News Digest October 3-9

By Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Erik Meers, Michael Quinn, Jeffery Rubin, Alain Sanders, Sophfronia Scott Gregory, David Thigpen, Sidney Urquhart

NATION

Somalia Crisis

American Army Rangers in Mogadishu raided a suspected meeting place of fugitive warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid, but the attack went awry and turned into a 15-hour fire fight, leaving at least 15 American soldiers dead, one taken prisoner and two unnacounted for. With Congress in an uproar, President Clinton addressed the nation and said he would immediately send more troops to Somalia, bringing their number to 10,000. Clinton pledged, however, that all forces would return home by March 31.

Shalala Follows a Tough Act

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala went to Capitol Hill and found that legislators had removed the kid gloves they used when questioning Hillary Clinton. Testifying before two congressional committees on the President's health-care-reform plan, Shalala was chided for giving vague answers and for not being able to explain how the program would be financed. "I am no Mrs. Clinton," Shalala said.

Reno and Waco

A Justice Department report has concluded that Janet Reno exhausted all "reasonable alternatives" before approving an assault on David Koresh's Waco compound last spring, and cleared the Attorney General of having made any mistakes. It does conclude, though, that there was bitter wrangling within the fbi about what tactics to use during the 51-day crisis, and that Reno's claim of child abuse during the standoff was unsupported by fact.

Ask, Tell

The military's new "Don't ask, don't tell" policy is moot for the moment: the Pentagon, bowing to a court order, will let gay service members openly profess their orientation. The court order is now under appeal.

Tailhook Admiral Stays

Defense Secretary Les Aspin refused to remove Admiral Frank Kelso II from his post as Chief of Naval Operations, overruling Navy Secretary John Dalton. In a report on the scandalous 1991 Navy Tailhook convention, Dalton had placed ultimate responsibility on Kelso for the pilots' sexual assaults.

Bombing Trial Begins

The trial opened in New York City for four Muslims accused of blasting an underground garage in the World Trade Center last February. Six people died in the explosion.

Bounty on a Bomber's Head

Federal investigators are offering a $1 million reward for any information that will help break the case of the bomber who has sent 14 explosive packages to executives and academics since 1978, killing one person and injuring 23. After six years of inactivity, the "Unabom" bomber struck twice again last summer, wounding two university professors. The authorities have made one new clue public: a note, possibly written by the bomber, that says, "Call Nathan R -- wed 7 p.m."

"Granny Killer" Stalks Florida

The elderly of Florida's Hernano County are relaxing after learning that a serial killer who sexually assaulted and slew four widows, ages 70 to 87, and then burned their bodies to conceal the crimes has been caught.

Los Angeles Cops Under Siege

Police chief Willie Williams appealed to the Los Angeles public for an end to violence last week after the third armed attack on officers in two weeks. No one was injured in the latest ambush shooting, but, Williams declared, "people think it's open season on the police."

No Safety from Guns

Opponents of gun control insist that law-abiding citizens need handguns to protect themselves. According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, however, Americans who keep guns in their homes are nearly three times as likely to be murdered at home -- usually by friends or relatives -- as those who do not. The report did not measure how many times firearms were used to scare off intruders, although it said 5% of the murder victims had been killed trying unsuccessfully to use their guns in self-defense.

WORLD

Moscow Uprising Crushed

With tanks firing round after round into the 19-story skyscraper, Russian forces loyal to President Boris Yeltsin stormed the Parliament Building in Moscow and removed rebel legislators and their armed supporters. More than 170 people were killed and almost 900 were wounded in the assault and a separate battle, in which rebels tried -- but failed -- to take Moscow's TV broadcast center. Suppression of the putsch enjoyed widespread public support. Yeltsin announced that elections for a new parliament will be held Dec. 12, called for regional councils to dissolve themselves and briefly imposed some press censorship.

Georgia Fights Rebels

Eduard Shevardnadze's government continued fighting against both separatists in the northwestern Abkhazia region and supporters of ousted President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Said one defense official: "It is obvious now there is no room for dialogue. This is going to be a fight to the end."

Bosnia Sets Conditions

Alija Izetbegovic, President of the Muslim-dominated Bosnian government, asked for a guarantee that the U. S. would participate in the enforcement of a peace agreement with the Croats and Serbs. He also proposed an expansion of the territories to be administered by the U.N. after any settlement.

Pope vs. Relativism

John Paul II's newest encyclical, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth), declares that moral standards cannot vary, since they come from God. The Pope considers the 179-page document, which took six years to write, the most detailed examination of the church's moral doctrine ever issued by the Vatican.

No Repeat Handshake

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat met in Cairo to discuss the transition to Palestinian self-rule, beginning in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. Though the two men declined to repeat their historic handshake for photographers, they reportedly shook hands later in private.

Bhutto Wins in Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's charismatic Prime Minister from 1988 to 1990 and the first woman to head a modern Muslim country, narrowly led her party to victory in the national elections. The Harvard graduate now faces a very difficult task of coalition building.

China Resumes Nuclear Tests

Defying a concerted U.S. campaign to prevent it, China exploded a small nuclear device at an underground test site in northwestern Xinjiang province. A dismayed President Clinton ordered preparations for a possible resumption of U.S. nuclear testing next year.

BUSINESS

More Jockeying for Paramount

Viacom recruited a new partner in order to strengthen its bid for Paramount Communications. Viacom will receive a $1.2 billion cash infusion from NYNEX, the telephone company for New York and New England. Meanwhile, Viacom's rival, QVC Network, was reportedly negotiating with another Baby Bell, BellSouth, in its effort to raise cash for the deal.

Capitalized Medicine

Columbia Healthcare announced last week that it would acquire Hospital Corp. of America for $5.7 billion in stock. The transaction merges the country's two largest for-profit hospital companies into one new behemoth with estimated annual revenues of more than $10 billion.

United Beats American

According to new passenger statistics released last week, United has surpassed American to become the most traveled airline.

New Chairman for Ford

Alexander Trotman, a Briton who had been head of worldwide auto operations, was named the new chairman and ceo of the Ford Motor Co., replacing Harold Poling, who is retiring.

SCIENCE

Lost in Space-Again

It was another bad week for the U.S. space program and for space contractor Martin Marietta, in particular. A $220 million Landsat earth-monitoring satellite launched on Tuesday was lost by Wednesday -- the fourth such disappearance in two months for the Maryland-based company, which five days earlier had announced 11,000 layoffs.

Attack of the Rust Fungus

Imported plants and animals are a menace whose "environmental and economic impacts are snowballing," according to a congressional report. At least 4,500 immigrant species, from Asian tiger mosquitoes to soybean rust fungus, have established themselves on U.S. soil since colonial times and now threaten to take over -- pushing out native species and causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.

MEDIA & THE ARTS

Author Morrison Honored

The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Toni Morrison last week, author of such novels as the Pulitzer-prizewinning Beloved. Morrison, 62, who published her first novel in 1970, became the eighth woman and first black woman to win the prize.

A Picture Is Worth ...

A 1920 photograph by Alfred Stieglitz, showing the hands of his wife, artist Georgia O'Keee, was sold for $398,500 at Christie's to an anonymous bidder. That's a record for a photo sold at auction; the previous high was $193,895 for a work by Man Ray.

Jordan Calls It Quits

Declaring "I don't have anything else to prove," Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan announced his retirement from the National Basketball Association last week. The three-time N.B.A. champion said he had been considering the move even before the murder of his father this summer, but that event made his decision "simpler."

Once More, Even Nuttier

Comedian-auteur Jerry Lewis has announced that that he plans to make Nutty Professor II, a sequel to his 1963 hit.