TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=94TT1008> <title> Aug. 01, 1994: Chronicles:The Week--July 17-23 </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994 Aug. 01, 1994 This is the beginning...:Rwanda/Zaire </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> CHRONICLES, Page 11 The Week: July 17-23 </hdr> <body> NATION Health-Care Maneuvers Following an address to the National Governors' Association in Boston in which President Clinton appeared to waffle on the question of universal coverage, the political arm wrestling over health-care reform intensified in Washington. Democratic leaders of both houses met with Clinton late in the week to tell him they would work to craft a different but still universal program that could win a majority in both chambers. In effect, it was an abandonment of the Clinton plan. No details were released, but majority leader George Mitchell announced that "our plans will be less bureaucratic, more voluntary, and will be phased in over a longer period of time." The Simpson Case Once again entering a plea of not guilty, O.J. Simpson was arraigned on charges that he stabbed to death his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman last month. The trial was assigned to superior court Judge Lance Ito. Before the arraignment, Simpson offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the "real killer or killers," and set up a toll-free number to take tips from the public. Another Whitewater Ripple Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig, the nation's top bank regulator, wrote in a memo that surfaced last week that President Clinton had approached him for "advice and counsel" regarding the "legal-regulatory issues relative to the Whitewater matter." Ludwig says he responded that it would be "impermissible" for him to give such advice. The White House retorted that the only information Clinton sought from Ludwig, an old college pal, was the names of real estate experts who could write sympathetic articles about Whitewater issues. Sailing Rough Seas Secretary of the Navy John Dalton has found himself in hot water. When he was being considered for his Navy post, the White House and the Senate Armed Services Committee chose to brush aside his past legal problems as head of a failed Texas S&L, according to the New York Times. Dalton insists he was "completely straightforward" with the Administration and the committee about the matter. Breaking the CIA's Frat Code CIA Director R. James Woolsey denounced CIA mole Aldrich Ames as a "malignant betrayer of his country" whose selling of secrets because he wanted a "bigger house and a Jaguar" cost U.S. agents their lives. Woolsey acknowledged, however, that the agency's "fraternity" culture of secrecy, protectiveness and loyalty helped shield Ames from being unmasked earlier. Judge to Citadel: About-Face A federal judge ordered the Citadel, the state-supported military college in South Carolina, to admit Shannon Faulkner to its all-male corps of cadets next month and to develop plans to admit other women soon. The school said it would appeal. Troubling Demographics The Census Bureau released a report showing that out-of-wedlock births are skyrocketing. In 1993 about 6.3 million children in the U.S., or more than a quarter of those under 18, lived with a single parent who had never married--in contrast to 3.4 million in 1983 and 243,000 in 1960. WORLD Rwandan Refugees' Nightmare As victorious rebels declared a cease-fire in Rwanda, more than 2 million refugees poured across the border into Zaire, where starvation and cholera ravaged what has become the largest refugee encampment in the world. Said an aid worker: "There's someone dying here every minute." The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front formed a government that promised safety for all Rwandans, but Hutu fearing retribution for the country's ethnic slaughter continued their mass exodus. Serbs Nix Bosnian Pax Western allies debated possible reprisals against the Bosnian Serbs, who rejected a plan for peace in Bosnia laid down by the U.S., Russia and three European nations. In response to the Serb rejection, Bosnian officials warned that their own unconditional acceptance of the plan would be withdrawn unless stern action is taken against the Serbs. Dead Sea Strolls Foreshadowing possible progress toward peace at the historic meeting between Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein at the White House this week, Cabinet ministers from the two countries met on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea. Jordan's Prime Minister, Abdel Salam Majali, said, "These are indeed vital and critical moments, which historians shall cherish and poets shall relish." But while the King declared that peace will come "as soon as possible," he added, "We've still got a long way to go." Kim Buried, North Moves On Two days after North Korea buried its late Great Leader, Kim Il Sung, amid hysterical public grief, negotiators from Pyongyang met with U.S. officials in New York City to resume discussions on the country's controversial nuclear program. High-level talks between the two countries will restart in Geneva on Aug. 5. However, hopes for a speedy summit between North and South Korea, agreed to before Kim's death, were dimmed by Seoul's release of Russian documents blaming Pyongyang for the Korean War. Mixed Signals on Haiti The U.S. asked the U.N. to authorize an American-led multinational force to invade Haiti. But the junta headed by Lieut. General Raoul Cedras was confident the White House would not take military action soon, owing in part to mixed U.S. signals. After meeting with Cedras, House Democratic deputy whip Bill Richardson said Cedras "is not as intransigent as everyone pictures him to be. I think there's a little flexibility there." Berlusconi Backtracks Responding to public outrage, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi withdrew a decree by his government that freed some 200 bribery and corruption suspects jailed without a trial. The edict would have eliminated a powerful tool used by prosecutors seeking to unravel the web of corruption among Italy's ruling class. Instead, proposed new legislation will provide for preventive detention of corruption suspects. Buenos Aires Blast Kills 49 An explosion in the Argentine capital destroyed a building housing the offices of two Jewish groups, killing 49 people and injuring 157. President Carlos Saul Menem said the attack was planned by "beasts and savages." A radical Islamic group from Lebanon has claimed responsibility. The group also claims to be behind the next day bombing of a plane over Panama. Most of the 21 victims were Jewish. Labour Party Picks Chief Oxford-educated lawyer Tony Blair was elected leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, to succeed John Smith, who died of a heart attack in May. Although a national election is not required in Britain until 1996, Blair, a moderate, immediately began his campaign to unseat the unpopular government of Conservative Prime Minister John Major. U.S. Fugitive Nabbed in Jordan After a manhunt ordered by King Hussein, Jordanian police arrested a man wanted in New Jersey for murder. Mohammed Ismail Abequa, who is suspected of strangling his wife Nihal on July 3, arrived in Jordan with the couple's two children three days later. On Saturday, a Jordanian official said Abequa had confessed to the killing. SCIENCE Dying Comet Batters Jupiter Traveling at speeds of 130,000 m.p.h., mountain-size fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 tore huge holes in Jupiter's atmosphere throughout the week, giving astronomers a glimpse of the titanic forces released when celestial objects collide. The 24 explosions roughly equaled 40 million megatons of tnt--500 times the energy contained in the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and the Soviet Union at the height of the arms race. Sick Ship Heads for Port Celebrity Cruises took its luxury ocean liner Horizon out of service after traces of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium showed up in the ship's water system. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced six cases of the rare form of pneumonia to earlier cruises and reported 24 more suspected infections. Legionnaires' can be transmitted by air conditioning or through water supplies and kills 5% to 15% of its victims. The cruise line offered full refunds to Horizon's 1,243 passengers. By Leslie Dickstein, Christopher John Farley, Eugene Linden, Michael Quinn, Jeffery Rubin, Alain Sanders, Sidney Urquhart and Sarah Van Boven Scene Stealer of the Week: Welcome to BOB DOLE'S Punch-and-Judy show: watch him pounce on everything from Haiti to health care to the President INSIDE LAGOS Jesse's Trip to Troubled Nigeria JESSE JACKSON plans to go to Lagos, Nigeria, this week as a quasi-official U.S. envoy, but some Nigerians, including Nobel-prizewinning author Wole Soyinka, say Jackson's ties compromise his position. Moshood Abiola, the apparent winner of last year's presidential election, once donated $250,000 to a Jackson-backed campaign to build business links between Africans and black Americans. In the 1980s, Jackson borrowed an airliner from former strongman Ibrahim Babangida, the man who would not allow Abiola, now under arrest, to take office. WINNERS & LOSERS Winners ANNA NICOLE SMITH--Pinup weds octogenarian oilman--and he's happy too AMERICAN MATH OLYMPIAD TEAM--Wins math world series with unprecedented perfect score TOM ARNOLD--Great True Lies reviews secure his post-Roseanne career Losers LINDA EVANGELISTA--Beauty acts beastly to Prince Charles at London movie premiere CELEBRITY CRUISE LINES--The sun, the sea breeze, the service, the deadly bacterium NAVY SECRETARY JOHN DALTON--His leading role in $100 million S&L failure is revealed CHEWING THE FAT After warning about the artery-clogging potential of Chinese food, Italian food and movie-theater snacks, the Center for Science in the Public Interest last week reported the dangers of consuming Mexican fare. The U.S. government recommends limiting fat intake to 30% of daily food consumption, or 65 g for a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet. DISPATCHES Voodoo on the Hustings By Cathy Booth/in Passe Reine Toto Constant emerges from his two-story white villa in Port-au-Prince, looking for all the world like a Sunday driver out for a spin in his Nissan rental. But the illusion is soon broken by the arsenal in his car: an M-1 carbine, an Uzi submachine gun and two .45-cal. pistols. Life can be dangerous if you're Emmanuel ("Toto") Constant, founder of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, or FRAPH, successor to the murderous Tontons Macoutes of the Duvalier era. This particular Sunday, however, Constant is a squeaky-clean presidential candidate out looking for votes in some distant election, dispensing pork-barrel promises, anti-U.S. rhetoric and a little voodoo. His two-car convoy heads for the hamlet of Montrouis, where he stops for cola drinks and conch while shaking the hands of awed peasants. In the town of St. Marc he promises an electrification project, then tucks into a helping of fried goat. Later he rants to farmers about Haiti's exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and promises that FRAPH will poison the water supply of any U.S. invaders. "Down with Aristide!" the farmers cheer. "FRAPH forever!" Candidate Constant is eager to create a new image for FRAPH, which built a Macoutes-like reputation for murder and intimidation in the pro-Aristide slums. Now Constant claims the group is a "Salvation Army" helping the poor. Once a member of Haiti's mission to the U.N., he makes much of his degrees from Canada in physics, math and engineering. Of course, he still packs a .357 Magnum in the city. "The weapon is for psychological impact only", he says. "I have the power of voodoo with me." Constant understands the political power of Haiti's peasant religion. He often treats journalists to late-night voodoo rituals and trips to the sacred waterfall at Saut d'Eau as he calls for help from his loa, the warrior god who represents St. George. This Sunday, Constant is intent on communing with his loa at a temple in the valley north of Gonaives. By the time he arrives at the site--a concrete hovel--darkness has fallen. Inside is an altar topped with white lace, a cross and a MERRY CHRISTMAS sign. At its base are rum bottles and skulls. The ceremony begins. Constant offers up pictures of four loas, including his own. A priest takes shavings from the bone of one skull, sprinkles rum on the crowd, then swigs. He spreads rum on the floor, drinks again. He begins to foam at the mouth, spittle flying as he shakes his head. A bottle of rum is set afire. Constant dances uncomfortably. A loa takes possession of a girl, who writhes at Constant's feet: he looks embarrassed. There is more dancing, more drinking. Then Constant too is lying on the floor, in a fetal position. A girl dances around him as fire licks at rum-soaked spots on the floor. The priest and Constant embrace. Constant disappears. Five gunshots ring out. Constant reappears, wearing an orange robe. Time passes in a haze of booze and heat. Then, suddenly, it's over. Fried goat is served, and the crowd chants in Creole, "Toto for President! Without Toto, Haiti can't have a life!" As the last cheer fades, Constant heads off into the night. It is the end of another day on the campaign trail. </body> </article> </text>