Informed Sources

Hanoi's Time for Sharing

Washington -- This Tuesday, Clinton must decide whether to end or extend the trade embargo against Vietnam, which is decades old. Last week Hanoi deemed it the right time to share with the U.S. several sacks of documents that may shed new light on the fate of MIA-POWs. Among these are the much sought after "Blue Books" -- internal documents of the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense that detail exactly where Americans were captured and held. Pentagon insiders say it's the largest amount of intelligence Hanoi has ever given to the U.S.

Bubbles, Can You Spare a Dime?

Los Angeles -- Absorbed by his conveniently timed world tour and fighting off accusations of child abuse, Michael Jackson has scrapped a music video he was to make to promote the fall movie Addams Family Values. Jackson was supposed to pick up the tab, at least some of which was already spent. Initial reports put the cost at $1 million, but sources familiar with the production have told Time that the proposed video budget was actually closer to $5 million. Says an Addams insider: "It wasn't just a clip; it was supposed to be a 10-minute film."

At the New FBI, the F Is for Family

Washington -- When Louis Freeh's son Brendan, 7, came down with flulike symptoms, the new FBI chief blew work early. The G-man's fatherly concern is teaching the FBI's hard-driving agents that it's just fine to put family first. He took a morning off to go with his two eldest kids on their first day at school. Says Freeh: "I intend to do all that stuff. I promised my wife that's the only condition on which I decided to take this job."