TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=94TT0900> <title> Jul. 11, 1994: Chronicles:The Week June 26 - July 2 </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994 Jul. 11, 1994 From Russia, With Venom </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> CHRONICLES, Page 9 The Week: June 26 - July 2 </hdr> <body> NATION Health-Care Maneuvers In a major victory for President Clinton and new chairman Sam Gibbons, the House Ways and Means Committee narrowly approved a universal health-care reform package. Similar to the Administrations proposal, it would require employers to pay most workers' insurance coverage, with breaks for small businesses. On the Senate side, however, the pivotal finance committee voted down employer payments for workers' insurance. Complicating matters, minority leader Bob Dole produced a modest package of insurance reforms that immediately drew the backing of 39 Republican Senators. The Simpson Case Televised live and nationwide, court proceedings to determine whether there is enough evidence to try O.J. Simpson for murdering his ex-wife and her friend got under way. Simpson's attorney Robert Shapiro immediately mounted an aggressive defense, asking that key pieces of evidence be suppressed because, he claimed, they were improperly seized by police. Prosecutors obtained judicial permission to get 40 to 100 hairs from Simpson in order to compare them scientifically with strands found in a cap at the murder scene, and a Los Angeles store employee testified that he sold a 15-in. knife to Simpson in May. No murder weapon has yet been found by police. On Friday, the defense turned over a new piece of evidence in a sealed mystery envelopeleading to intensive nationwide speculation about what was in it. Meet the New Boss Seeking to anchor his Administration with more authoritative leadership, President Clinton named Budget Director Leon Panetta as his new chief of staff, replacing Mack McLarty, who will remain as senior counselor. The President shifted another White House aide, image molder David Gergen, to new foreign policy responsibilities as special adviser to both the President and the Secretary of State. The First Whitewater Report Releasing the results of the first phase of his investigation, Whitewater special counsel Robert Fiske said he had found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the White House and Treasury officials who shared information about the progress of an investigation into the S&L at the heart of the Whitewater affair. Fiske also announced that the suicide of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster was just thatand not related to Whitewater or other financial matters of the Clintons. Charlotte Plane Crash USAir Flight 1016, carrying 55 people, crashed early Saturday evening while trying to land at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in a storm. At least 18 people were confirmed dead, and witnesses reported numerous injuries. The DC-9 jet, en route from Columbia, S.C., struck trees and telephone poles before hitting a house. Time Out, Please President Clintons lawyers asked the Arkansas federal judge overseeing Paula Jones sexual-harassment lawsuit to halt the case until after Clinton leaves office. The Clinton legal team argued that the President should be immune from private civil claims while in office so that he can carry on the business of the nation undistracted by litigation. Meanwhile, the President and First Lady announced the creation of an unprecedented legal-defense fund in their behalf, to be administered by a blue-ribbon panel of trustees. Only individuals will be allowed to contribute to the fund, and only up to $1,000 annually. Supreme Court Decisions Concluding its 1993-94 term, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down important decisions on abortion, religion, voting rights and the death penalty. By a 6-to-3 vote the Justices upheld, against a free-speech challenge, a 36-ft. buffer zone created by a Florida judge to protect a clinic from antiabortion protesters. And in another 6-to-3 vote the Justices declared unconstitutional a New York State school district that had been specially created to accommodate the disabled children of a small community of Hasidic Jews. The court also ruled that the federal Voting Rights Act does not require the creation of the largest possible number of minority election districts. WORLD Arafat Visits Gaza Strip P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat visited the newly autonomous Gaza Strip, ending a 27-year absence from his homeland. Speaking before 70,000 supporters in Gaza City, Arafat promised to build a democratic and free homeland for the Palestinians. In a brief assassination scare during the speech, two Israelis were seized by Palestinian security personnel for possessing handguns. They were later released. Is Asia's Berlin Wall Cracking? North and South Korea announced a three-day summit beginning July 25 in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. The meeting will mark the first exchange between the two countries top leaders since the Korean peninsula was divided in 1945. U.S. negotiators are to meet with North Korean officials in Geneva this Friday to discuss Pyongyangs nuclear program, which is suspected of producing nuclear weapons. Strange Bedfellows in Japan The conservative Liberal Democratic Party formed a coalition with its ideological antithesis and elected Socialist Party leader Tomiichi Murayama the countrys new Prime Minister. The election is a blow to the reform movement hoping to clean up Japanese politics: the corruption-racked L.D.P. ruled Japan for four decades before it was swept from power last summer in the wake of a series of scandals. Haitian Refugee Tide Surges The U.S. Coast Guard picked up more than 5,000 refugees off the coast of Haiti last week; by comparison, 2,329 Haitians were intercepted during all of 1993. To cope with the flood, President Clinton reopened a processing center at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba. The U.S. also announced that it was revoking all nonimmigrant visas held by Haitians and would stop issuing new immigrant visas, in an effort to pressure Haiti's military leaders to step down. Hutu Flee Rwandan Rebels Nearly a quarter-million Hutu crowded refugee camps in south-central Rwanda, trying to escape from advancing Tutsi rebels who they fear will exact retribution for Hutu massacres of Tutsi in the country's three-month-old ethnic bloodbath. Meanwhile, French forces evacuated more than 100 Tutsi to Zaire and set up a protective cordon around an encampment of several hundred Tutsi threatened by Hutu. At week's end rebel Tutsi forces had completely surrounded the capital of Kigali. World Cup Player Murdered Andres Escobar, 27, a member of Colombias national soccer team, was gunned down early Saturday morning outside a bar near Medellin. During a June 22 World Cup match against the U.S., Escobar accidentally deflected a shot into Colombia's net. Defeat, elimination from World Cup play and death threats all ensued. BUSINESS Dollar Continues to Fall Despite Treasury Secretary Bentsen's assurances that the Clinton Administration does not favor devaluing the dollar to strengthen exports, the greenback resumed its downward slide against the Japanese yen. Japans selection of a Socialist Prime Minister sent U.S. currency to a new low as continued devaluation fueled speculation that the Fed will soon raise short-term interest rates for the fifth time this year. CBS and QVC to Merge CBS announced that it will merge with QVC to create an entertainment giant with ties to both network programming and the cable-television industry. The deal, valued at more than $7 billion, will form a conglomerate headed by QVC chairman and former 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller. CBS stock jumped $50 a share, to $313, following Thursday's announcement. SPORTS What a Way to Say Goodbye Martina Navratilova, demonstrating the talent that won her a record nine Wimbledon singles titles, attempted to capture her 10th, defeating Gigi Fernandez to advance to the finals. But on Saturday, Conchita Martinez, 22, defeated the 37-year-old Navratilova in a blazing 1 hr., 59-min. match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to win her own first Grand Slam title. Asked after the match whether this would be her final trip to Wimbledon, Navratilova replied: "Definitely. Enough." Tonya: The Coda After a two-day hearing, a disciplinary panel of the U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of her national title and barred her from the organization for life for her role in the assault on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan. By Christopher John Farley, Christine Gorman, Lina Lofaro, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders, Sidney Urquhart and Sarah Van Boven HEALTH REPORT The Good News -- Taking estrogen after menopause may boost a woman's mental skills. A study of 36 older women found that the drug significantly improved their reflexes, eye-hand coordination and ability to solve intellectual puzzles. A larger study is planned. -- Scientists may be on the track of a better diagnostic test for Lyme disease. While current tests often take months to give a result, new research has discovered a telltale antibody that makes its presence known within a few days of the initial infection. -- Cyclosporine, which is better known as a treatment for organ-transplant patients, may help people with severe inflammation of the colon. Most of the patients in a small drug trial improved so much that they did not have to have their colon removed. The Bad News -- Most people suffering from heart failure are apparently not getting the proper drug treatment. Nor do they follow their doctor's orders on diet and exercise. New federal guidelines call for greater reliance on drugs called ACE inhibitors, which help lower blood pressure, and improved communication and cooperation between physician and patient. -- More women are dying on U.S. highways than ever before. Auto-safety experts cite an increase in the number of working women who drive during rush hour as well as their preference for smaller cars. -- AIDS is now spreading faster in Asia than in any other part of the world. In the past year, the number of cases jumped eightfold, from 30,000 to 250,000. Sources: GOOD--Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology; Journal of Clinical Investigation; New England Journal of Medicine. BAD--U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; World Health Organization. GROWNUP OF THE WEEK New White House chief of staff Leon Panetta plans on running an extremely tight ship sometime very soon INSIDE PORT-AU-PRINCE Better Homes and Gardens--Haitian Style While the people of Haiti suffer under economic sanctions, the nation's rulers are not only settling in for the long haul, they're making pricey home improvements. Lieut. General Raoul Cedras installed solar panels in his home in the hills above Port-au-Prince, an addition that will make his life more comfortable during frequent blackouts. Michel Francois, head of the Port-au-Prince police, ordered luxury furniture for his mansion--but alas, the vessel carrying his shipment was turned back by the U.S. blockade. WINNERS & LOSERS Winners THE BALD EAGLE--Taken off endangered-species list just in time for July 4 LAURENCE TISCH--CBS head scores QVC megamerger--hey, you can't lose 'em all TOMIICHI MURAYAMA--Socialist becomes Japan's Prime Minister du jour Losers KEVIN COSTNER--Earp epic outgunned; maybe he should have thrown in a meerkat PRINCE CHARLES--Effort to seem likable backfires with infidelity admission STONEWALL 25--New York's celebration of gay liberation winds up $300,000 in debt "OH, YOU MEAN LEON PANETTA..." "I think Leon Panetta is a terrific choice...He's just a terrific guy. He's got a good sense of humor, and he's got a really good sense of the American people and what they want."--Clinton adviser Paul Begala, commenting on Leon Panetta's appointment as White House chief of staff "Begala felt as if he were from a different country than some of the senior Clinton officials...The worst of them, Begala felt, was Leon Panetta, the former congressman from Carmel Valley. Begala felt that of all 435 congressional districts, Panetta's was least representative of America--the pure, elitist, unreal world of California dreaming. Panetta seemed to love talking about nothing more than deficit reduction...In private, ((Begala)) began applying a new label to the budget director: `The Poster Boy for Economic Constipation.'"--from Bob Woodward's The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House HOT AIR RISING Last year Senate Republicans killed President Clinton's stimulus package with a filibuster. Currently, they're threatening to filibuster health-care legislation. If it feels as if we're living through a filibuster epidemic, we are: two-thirds of the nation's filibusters have taken place since rule changes in the mid-'60s made the tactic easier to pull off. Strom Thurmond holds the individual record (24 hrs., 18 min., against the Civil Rights Act of 1957). NOW FERGIE, ON THE OTHER HAND "Fat lot of use it's going to be to me, I can tell you!" --Prince Charles, when informed by a Bedouin that camel's milk is an aphrodisiac. FREE AGENTS? President Bush's campaign operatives coined the phrase Team 100 for donors who contributed a minimum of $100,000 to the Republican Party. Now President Clinton and the Democratic Party have their own Team 100. Eight players have suited up for both: <table> <tblhdr><cell>PLAYER<cell>CLINTON TEAM DONATIONS<cell>BUSH TEAM DONATIONS <row><cell type=a>Dwayne Andreas, chair, Archer Daniels Midland Co.<cell type=i>$270,000<cell type=i>$1,122,000 <row><cell>Carl Lindner, chair and CEO, American Financial Corp.<cell>250,000<cell>355,460 <row><cell>Marvin Davis, oil and entertainment mogul<cell>200,000<cell>110,000 <row><cell>Lodwrick Cook, chair, Atlantic Richfield Co. Inc.<cell>171,500<cell>741,001 <row><cell>Ronald Perelman, chair, Revlon Group Inc.<cell>171,000<cell>215,000 <row><cell>Wayne Huizenga, co-founder, Waste Management Inc.<cell>146,000<cell>332,337 <row><cell>Thomas Blair, former president, Direct Health Inc.<cell>130,000<cell>100,000 <row><cell>Edgar M. Bronfman, chair, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Inc.<cell>100,000<cell>508,727 </table> CUP CONFIDENTIAL Tehran Everyone knows World Cup matches have been sweltering--everyone, that is, except Iranian TV viewers, who are shown pictures of crowds bundled up in wool overcoats, mittens and boots. Censors did not dare show scantily dressed fans in America for fear of corrupting Islamic morals. London Queen Elizabeth is reported to have risked 1 pound in the Windsor Castle betting pool. Alas, the unlucky monarch drew the U.S. Buenos Aires Ever since he attended Argentina's loss to Cameroon in the 1990 Cup, President Carlos Menem has been viewed as a jinx, or "mufa." On a visit to the U.S. last month, Menem purposely passed up a chance to see Argentina play Nigeria--an election-year ploy, insiders say. </body> </article> </text>