Meanwhile, Back At the Bargaining Table . . .

By Janice Castro

Other plans to dismantle the long nuclear standoff are moving ahead smartly. U.S. intelligence officials anticipate a major breakthrough in arms-control verification by spring. Until now, spy satellites have provided the best way to peek at what the other side is doing. Gorbachev quipped that U.S. military satellites could read the license plates on Moscow cars. But bad weather can block the view from space: airplanes would be better. Members of NATO and the former WARSAW PACT countries are close to an unprecedented agreement to permit regular verification flights over one another's territory. Come in, O'Hare! Requesting permission to land. I'm out of film.

With reporting by Wendy Cole