Until now Britain has managed to assemble a "blocking minority" of like minded countries, such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland, to resist protectionist measures championed by France.

In the Senate, Republican leaders moved to block a vote on a bipartisan measure championed by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, that would instruct President Clinton to use "all necessary force and other means" against Serbia.

In an impressive assertion of organized labor's political might, California voters on Tuesday dealt conservatives a considerable setback by rejecting a measure championed by Republicans that would have pinched the flow of money to Democratic candidates and causes.

At issue is a sensible measure long championed by Senator Frank Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, to establish a uniform national standard for drunken driving.

And on Tuesday it defeated a bill that would have defined a fetus as a person, a measure championed by Gordon Humphrey, a former Republican United States Senator who gave up his seat last year to run for the state Senate.

The measure, championed by Senator Jim Exon, Democrat of Nebraska, was placed as an amendment to a broad bill to deregulate the telecommunications industry.