A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

 their partnership due to restrictions placed on the partnership 's business as 

the result of Mr. Brown 's position as secretary of commerce and the unfair pres

s attention directed at Nolanda Hill because of her on-going professional associ

ation with Secretary Brown , '' Commerce Department spokeswoman Carol Hamilton s

aid Wednesday . Hill , who handled all the operations of First International and

 was the only other known investor in the company , could not be reached for com

ment Wednesday . Harry Barnett , a Boston attorney representing Hill , said he c

ould not explain how she came up with the money to buy Brown 's share of the fir

m when last year she was unable to repay debts to the government . Brown and Hil

l have refused to discuss their business relationship or say what their company 

did . At a breakfast meeting with reporters last week , Brown said that despite 

its name , First International Communications was not in the communications busi

ness . Brown 's stock in First International was the largest single investment l

isted by Brown on his 1992 financial-disclosure report , which listed his holdin

gs before he joined the government , Government regulations do not require offic

ials to put precise values on their holdings , but to list them in various range

s of value . As of last year , Brown showed his First International shares were 

worth between $ 500,000 and $ 1 million and said that valuation was based on inf

ormation provided by Hill that might be optimistic . The new report shows Brown 

like many high government officials had to substantially restructure his persona

l finances when he entered the government . The disclosure report shows Brown re

ceived between $ 500,000 and $ 1 million last February when he disposed of his i

nterests in Capital PEBSCO Inc. , an employee-benefits consulting firm . Because

 Brown was required to sell his stake in PEBSCO when he took office , he qualifi

ed for special tax treatment that allowed him to reinvest the profits from the s

ale without paying capital-gains taxes . Brown now has put most of his money int

o mutual funds and now lists holdings of between $ 15,000 and $ 100,000 in 34 di

fferent funds , invested in a wide variety of stocks and bonds . Hill , Brown 's

 partner in First International , formerly owned WFTY , Channel 50 in Washington

 , and WUNI , Channel 27 , in Needham , Mass. , a suburb of Boston . Last year s

he lost both stations in foreclosure proceedings after she failed to repay the m

oney she borrowed to buy and run them . Hill financed the stations with loans fr

om a group of Texas savings and loan associations , which later failed and were 

taken over by the FDIC . After trying unsuccessfully to collect on the loans , t

he FDIC sold them and wrote off a loss of $ 23 million , which was absorbed by t

axpayers as part of the $ 150 billion savings and loan cleanup . When Hill 's fa

ilure to repay her debts to the FDIC were reported by The Washington Post last y

ear , Brown said he knew nothing of his partner 's financial problems . Brown an

d Hill were partners in First International which operated out of the same small

 office here as Corridor Broadcasting , the parent company for Hill 's televisio

n stations . Hill and Brown , the former Democratic National Committee chairman 

, also were political allies and last summer he arranged for her to be invited t

o a White House lunch with President Clinton and a small group of business execu

tives . Promient in Democratic Party circles , Hill was one of the organizers of

 a planned Kennedy Center gala for `` Friends of Ron Brown '' that was scheduled

 for three days before President Clinton 's inaugural . The party , which was to

 be sponsored by such corporations as J.C. Penney , Anheuser-Busch , Pepsico and

 Textron , was canceled after objections that it was inappropriate for the comme

rce secetary-designate to be soliciting funds from companies that might be invol

ved in issues before the Commerce Department .

 BEDFORD , Va. . Fresh-faced teenagers performing patriotic skits on the school 

stage . A military band playing the national anthem outside the picturesque cour

thouse . Glass cases stuffed with wartime memorabilia in the local museum . Thes

e are the simple ways in which this small town is paying tribute to the sons it 

lost on D-Day a half-century ago . Similar remembrances are unfolding throughout

 rural America . But this community of 6,000 , about 25 miles east of Roanoke , 

has a tragic distinction : It lost more men per capita on Normandy 's beaches th

at day than any other U.S. town . The death toll of 23 was so devastating that i

t prompted the military to stop forming units out of soldiers from a single comm

unity . For years after the war , few people in Bedford talked about their sacri

fice . It was too painful . Eventually , the veterans who made it home started g

athering each June with their families and with relatives of the dead , sometime

s at a small memorial marker that had been placed outside the courthouse . But r

esidents born after the war seemed oblivious to the price their community had pa

id . `` At times , I thought that no one cared , '' said E. Ray Nance , 80 , a r

etired postal worker and one of two D-Day veterans still living in Bedford . `` 

It 's their history , it 's their heritage . It was an important time . '' This 

year , however , the generation that lived through D-Day vowed not to let the ha

lf-centennial pass unnoticed . It started with Nancy Johnson , 55 , an apple far

mer whose recollections of the war are confined to memories of her grandfather '

s straining to hear the radio bulletins . She pressed for an exhibit at the Bedf

ord Museum , then recruited middle and high school students for a tribute to sur

vivors and those who never came home . As word spread , interest in the annivers

ary grew . Residents donated mementos for the museum exhibit and lined up for ti

ckets to the show at the school . Students interviewed veterans for oral history

 projects . The local radio station started playing patriotic anthems and popula

r music from the 1940s . An office supplies store downtown created a window disp

lay honoring those who fought . The mayor asked local schools to make Bedford 's

 D-Day role a permanent part of their history curriculum . `` It needs to be rec

orded , '' said Mayor Mike Shelton , 42 . `` It needs to be passed on . Because 

those who experienced its direct impact willn't be with us when the 60th anniver

sary comes . '' Last weekend , members of the Bedford Middle School chorus , onl

y slightly younger than many of the fallen soldiers were on D-Day , performed in

 the building where the troops had attended school . The teenagers paid tribute 

with moving renditions of `` America the Beautiful '' and `` Battle Hymn of the 

Republic '' and upbeat performances of `` Over There '' and `` Boogie Woogie Bug

le Boy of Company B . '' After the songs , there was a skit about soldiers going

 off to war , and one young man returning home in a casket . And there was a rec

reation of that morning at the drugstore when the telegrams started to arrive . 

For the finale , 23 youngsters stood in a semicircle , each lighting a candle as

 the name of a fallen soldier was called . Then Joel Morgan , 17 , played taps ,

 wearing the olive green uniform of his grandfather , a D-Day survivor who serve

d in the 29th Division from another small Virginia town . `` It just gets me exc

ited to know that I 'm doing something for these people-like I 'm paying them ba

ck for what they did for us so long ago , '' Joel said . `` It 's not much , but

 hopefully they 'll realize how much we appreciate what they did . ''

 RIVERSIDE , Calif. . An apparently distracted James Edward Bess locked his keys

 in his car at the University of California , Riverside about an hour before he 

allegedly shot Nation of Islam speaker Khallid Abdul Muhammad and campus police 

came to his rescue , university officials said Wednesday . After police confirme

d that Bess had rightful use of the vehicle and opened it for him , Bess moved t

he vehicle from a housing complex across the street from the gymnasium where Muh

ammad had begun speaking 45 minutes earlier . Bess , 49 , who was expelled from 

the Nation of Islam after serving as a minister of a Seattle mosque four years a

go , never made it back to his car . He was beaten by the crowd after he alleged

ly opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun , striking Muhammad and five of his 

bodyguards after they left the building . Later , police found Bess ' vehicle ab

out two blocks away , near one of the main campus entrances . Inside the vehicle

 , they recovered a high-powered rifle and ammunition . They also recovered at t

he shooting scene a backpack containing two additional semiautomatic handguns th

at they said belonged to him . Nothing about Bess ' behavior or actions attracte

d the officer 's attention when he helped Bess get into his car , university spo

kesman Jack Chappell said . `` There was nothing unusual about the vehicle , and

 the individual 's demeanor was polite , '' Chappell said . Chappell said the ca

ll for police assistance came in at 4:45 p.m. Sunday , after Bess was unable to 

break into his car with a coat hangar he got from a student resident on campus .

 Unknown to Bess , the student on his own called police for help , and they prom

ptly showed up , Chappell said . The campus police dispatcher , using the vehicl

e 's license plate number , called the registered owner of the car in Washington

 state , who confirmed that Bess had permission to drive it , Chappell said . He

 would not release the name of the owner of the car but said investigators were 

following up with that person . Muhammad and his bodyguards were shot just minut

es after 6 p.m. . Bess who was convicted of manslaughter in 1964 in Missouri and

 who shot and killed his brother in Fresno in 1975 in what was ruled self-defens

e has been charged in the Muhammad shooting with one count of attempted premedit

ated murder and five counts of assault with a firearm . He has pleaded not guilt

y and is being held without bail and remains hospitalized at Riverside General H

ospital from injuries including a broken shoulder inflicted by people who beat h

im after the shooting . Muhammad , meanwhile , is in good condition at Riverside

 Community Hospital , where he underwent surgery Tuesday night for the removal o

f bullet fragments from his leg , officials there said . ( Optional add end ) Dr

. Nicandro Marciano , who assisted in the surgery , described Muhammad as `` unc

annily lucky '' because the fragments were less than one millimeter away from a 

major artery which , if hit , `` could have been not only limb-threatening , but

 life-threatening . '' Muhammad who was suspended last year as spokesman for Nat

ion of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan after his verbal assault on Jews , Arabs and

 whites has lost feeling in the sole of his foot because of slight nerve damage 

caused by the wound , Marciano said . It was too early to tell if the damage is 

permanent , he said . Hospital spokeswoman Ann Matich said Muhammad is expected 

to remain hospitalized `` for a few more days . ''

 RIVERSIDE , Calif. . The niece of the man accused of shooting former Nation of 

Islam spokesman Khallid Abdul Muhammad on Sunday still holds her uncle responsib

le for the death of her father 19 years ago . James Edward Bess , 49 , an expell

ed Nation of Islam minister , shot his brother Elvin in 1975 . He was acquitted 

when a jury decided he fired in self-defense , but Elvin Bess ' daughter still r

esents her uncle . `` He cheated me out of a relationship with my father , '' Rh

onda Bess , 33 , of San Bernardino , Calif. , said in a telephone interview earl

y Wednesday . She said she had not seen nor spoken with James Bess in years . Af

ter killing her father , Rhonda Bess said , her uncle moved to Seattle . James B

ess has a record of violence . He and another brother , Henry , were convicted i

n 1964 in Missouri of manslaughter . They were sentenced to 10-year prison terms

 , but were paroled almost immediately , according to 30-year-old accounts in th

e Fresno Bee newspaper in California . In 1965 , James and Henry Bess were convi

cted of beating a man in Fresno , Calif. , who refused to buy a Muslim newspaper

 , the Bee reported at the time . Bess , the father of eight , has been charged 

with one count of attempted premeditated murder and five counts of assault with 

a firearm in Sunday 's shooting of Muhammad and five bodyguards . The shooting o

ccurred after Muhammad delivered a speech laced with anti-Semitic invective to a

bout 500 students at the University of California , Riverside , campus . Police 

believe Bess acted alone . Muhammad was suspended as an aide to Nation of Islam 

leader Louis Farrakhan after a November speech at Kean College in New Jersey in 

which he called Jews the `` bloodsuckers '' of the black community and urged the

 killing of South African whites . Police disclosed Wednesday that in the hours 

before the Sunday shooting , University of California police helped Bess after h

e accidentally locked his keys in his blue Mazda . Police later found a high-pow

ered rifle with a scope in the car . Before opening the car , police telephoned 

its owner in Washington state , said campus spokesman James Chappell . He said t

he owner confirmed that Bess was authorized to use the car . Police say Bess use

d a 9-mm pistol to wound Muhammad and his security guards , and two more 9-mm pi

stols were found in a backpack , belonging to him , next to the auditorium . Mea

nwhile , about a half-dozen members of Farrakhan 's personal security force arri

ved Tuesday from Chicago . Late that night , they examined the scene of the shoo

ting and as many as 30 men re-enacted the incident with the permission of univer

sity officials , Chappell said . Muhammad rested Wednesday after a two-hour oper

ation in Riverside Community Hospital Tuesday to remove bullet fragments from hi

s left leg . His doctor , Nicandro Marciano , said the bullet fragment missed a 

major artery in his leg by a millimeter . If it was hit , he could have bled to 

death . ( Optional add end ) Muhammad and his supporters have not issued a state

ment about the shooting , nor has Farrakhan . Farrakhan is scheduled to appear S

aturday at the University of Nevada , Las Vegas , fueling speculation that he ma

y visit Muhammad at the Riverside hospital . Muhammad is scheduled to speak in d

owntown Los Angeles Saturday , a commitment his supporters say he intends to kee

p . Earlier this year , Bess was a delegate to a convention of independent polit

ical parties aligned with New Alliance Political Party leader Lenora Fulani , a 

longtime Farrakhan supporter . `` This obviously came as a surprise to all of us

 , '' said another delegate , Patriot Party Chairman Nicholas Sabatine of Wind G

ap , Pa. . `` Absolutely nothing happened at the convention that would lead us t

o believe he would do something like this . ''

 SACRAMENTO , Calif. . Contending there is reason to believe tobacco-giant Phili

p Morris Corp. `` engaged in a systematic scheme of deception '' to gain signatu

res for a statewide smoking initiative , acting Secretary of State Tony Miller o

n Wednesday filed legal action that could lead to disqualification of the ballot

 measure . Miller asked the Superior Court in Sacramento to give him permission 

to question a sampling of voters who signed the initiative petition to determine

 whether they were deliberately misinformed . The ballot measure would abolish a

ll local smoking bans and replace them with a looser , statewide standard . A sp

okesman for the Philip Morris-financed Californians for Statewide Smoking Restri

ctions argued that Miller 's action was unconstitutional and that he was grandst

anding to gain an advantage over his opponents in next Tuesday 's Democratic pri

mary . `` It is blatantly clear that this is a fairly desperate attempt to call 

attention to himself in his campaign for secretary of state , '' said Lee H. Sti

tzenberger , whose firm , the Dolphin Group , represents the smoking initiative 

committee , Californians for Statewide Smoking Restrictions . One of Miller 's p

rimary opponents , former Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo , agreed . `` 

There is the appearance that ( Miller ) continues to use the office to advance h

is campaign goals that could have been avoided by waiting until after the electi

on , '' said Woo 's campaign manager , Steven Glazer . Miller said politics play

ed no part in his decision to go to court this week that he needed to act quickl

y to get the matter settled by June 30 , the deadline for certifying measures fo

r the November ballot . Miller 's action was hailed by anti-smoking forces . Car

olyn Martin , who chairs the Coalition for a Healthy California , predicted that

 `` a scientific survey will prove that a least half of those who signed the tob

acco industry petition were duped or signed under false pretenses . '' Documents

 released by Miller show that paid signature gatherers were told not to deviate 

from two `` pitches '' made to potential signers that the petition imposed `` st

atewide smoking restrictions '' and that it increased penalties for selling toba

cco to minors . The hired workers were apparently not to tell voters the initiat

ive would strike down local smoking ordinances stronger than the new law or that

 Phillip Morris was the actual sponsor . The smoking initiative committee 's fin

ancial statements show that Philip Morris provided $ 491,213 to qualify the meas

ure . A smattering of bars and restaurants provided the rest , a total of $ 480 

. Miller said that if he establishes that there was deception , he would then as

k the court to invalidate the ballot measure under a statute barring circulators

 from misrepresenting the contents of an initiative petition .

 ROME , June 2 President Clinton arrived here Wednesday night for the first leg 

of an eight-day trip that will put him in the center of ceremonies commemorating

 the 50th anniversary of D-Day and provide what the White House hopes is a respi

te from a troubled spring on the domestic and foreign policy fronts . Clinton wa

s greeted when he arrived at Ciampino Airport after midnight by Italian Foreign 

Minister Antonio Martino . His visit begins later Thursday with meetings with Po

pe John Paul II and Italian political leaders . Its highlight will occur at cere

monies Monday at the Normandy beaches where invading Allied troops opened the fi

nal phase of World War II . `` Fifty years ago . . . the men and women of Americ

a saved democracy in Europe and changed the course of history for the world , ''

 Clinton said in a departure ceremony in Washington at a monument to those who s

erved in the Army 's 1st Infantry Division , which played a prominent role in th

e D-Day invasion . `` I hope you will have some time to look at the ceremonies '

' marking history 's largest invasion , he said . `` I hope you will think about

 how we can honor their legacy by carrying it on . That is the greatest honor of

 all . '' Clinton has rallied public support for his foreign policy management o

n both his previous foreign trips and the White House hopes this one will produc

e the same results , despite its potential difficulties . A senior official said

 today that the trip `` involves very little substance , '' with its focus being

 the Normandy commemoration and the pictures of the president on the world stage

 in Italy , France and Britain . Americans have become increasingly critical of 

Clinton 's handling of foreign policy , with a string of recent polls showing th

at a majority now disapprove of his handling of such issues . His overall approv

al has also been slipping below 50 percent in some recent surveys . White House 

officials are prepared for Clinton 's first day overseas to offer a tinge of con

troversy . Differences with the pope on abortion and other issues to be raised a

t a U.N. population conference later this year are expected to be part of the di

scussions at the Vatican . Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporter

s that the pope wants to discuss `` ethical aspects '' of the final draft for th

e U.N. conference , `` particularly the right to life . '' Clinton also holds hi

s first meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , who is trying to

 allay international concern about the presence in his cabinet of five ministers

 from a party with neo-fascist roots . White House officials said Clinton would 

minimize any U.S. concern about Berlusconi 's government . White House officials

 said the one big issue on this trip will be an effort to persuade French Presid

ent Francois Mitterrand to keep France 's peacekeeping troops in Bosnia . Althou

gh Clinton refuses to send U.S. ground troops to the former Yugoslav republic ot

her than to help enforce a peace agreement , he said in a radio interview broadc

ast in France on Wednesday that he hoped French forces remain `` until we have e

xhausted all possibilities of a settlement . '' French officials in recent weeks

 have indicated that their peacekeepers ' presence in Bosnia is untenable unless

 a viable peace agreement is reached by this summer .

 While many Europeans are ill at ease with the intrusions of Americana , only th

e French have cared enough to seriously fight it . Over the years , they have la

unched a series of counterattacks most notably in December , when they fought to

 the last bitter minute to successfully retain their leaky defenses against the 

growing influx of American films and television programs during global trade neg

otiations . Declaring the defense of the French language a `` political priority

 , '' Premier Edouard Balladur 's government has also passed a law requiring tha

t a minimum of 40 percent of all songs played over the country 's airwaves be in