The Week October 24-30

By Ginia Bellafante, Christine Gorman, Michael Quinn, Jeffery Rubin, Alain L. Sanders, Sidney Urquhart

NATION

Finally -- the Health Plan

Five weeks after he described his health-care reforms in a nationally televised address to Congress, President Clinton delivered the ambitious, historic, universal proposal to Capitol Hill -- all 1,342 pages of it. The President immediately declared himself open to compromise on almost any aspect of his package, except one: When legislation is passed, he declared, "we must have achieved comprehensive health-care security for all Americans." The Administration has pushed back the date of the plan's implementation to January 1998, and it has raised to 40% its estimate of the proportion of insured Americans who would have to pay higher insurance premiums.

Packwood's Tangled Web

In a bombshell speech on the Senate floor, Oregon Republican Bob Packwood declared that the ethics committee investigating him on charges of sexual misconduct should not subpoena his diaries -- because that would raise serious privacy issues and because the diaries contain accounts of the amorous affairs of other members. In a blistering counterattack, the committee declared it needed the diaries to look into possible crimes unrelated to the harassment accusations. A flustered Senate considers whether to seek enforcement of the subpoena this week.

California Burning

Fed by gusty winds from the desert, a series of devastating fire storms -- some of them suspected of having been started by arsonists -- cut through the hills and canyons of Southern California, scorching more than 186,000 acres and ravaging about 700 buildings. President Clinton declared six counties disaster areas.

Then the Cheering Stopped

Celebrating the University of Wisconsin's first football victory over the University of Michigan in 12 years, 12,000 spectators out of a sellout 77,000 tried to pour onto the field and trampled 75 people, injuring seven critically. Said Wisconsin's security chief: "It was pent-up emotion, and it got out of control."

Gays in the Military

The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily limited the enforcement of a California federal judge's order banning discrimination against homosexuals in the military, while the ruling is being appealed. The action permits the Administration to put into force immediately the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy that gays find so objectionable.

The Bombing Tapes

, The informer who helped uncover the alleged plot by radical Muslims to bomb New York City landmarks secretly recorded his conversations with the FBI. Transcripts of some of these tapes were distributed to defense lawyers, then promptly leaked to the press. The transcripts suggest that the fbi was told in advance of plans to bomb the World Trade Center. Defense lawyers hope to use the tapes to show that the government entrapped the defendants.

Good News for Gun Control

The Brady bill, the emotionally symbolic gun-control measure that would impose a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases, won easy approval from a House Judiciary subcommittee. The move clears the way for full committee approval, which is expected, and a vote on the House floor.

Nuclear Pact with Ukraine

Secretary of State Warren Christopher signed an agreement with Ukraine that will give the former Soviet republic at least $175 million to help pay for the dismantling of all its nuclear weapons. Christopher pledged an additional $155 million in economic aid, subject to congressional approval. The agreement beween Christopher and President Leonid Kravchuk must be ratified by Ukraine's parliament, a highly uncertain fate.

WORLD

Canadian Right Humbled

In a stunning rejection of the governing Progressive Conservative Party, Canadian voters threw Prime Minister Kim Campbell from office and elected Jean Chretien as their next leader. Chretien's Liberal Party won 177 of 295 seats in the House of Commons, while the Progressive Conservatives lost 153 of their 155 seats, the worst defeat in Canadian history. Chretien quickly caused concern in Washington by declaring that he would demand changes in the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Burundi Massacres

Following a military coup in which Burundi's President was assassinated, tribal fighting has killed thousands. After the Oct. 21 slaying of President Melchior Ndadaye and four top aides, the army briefly seized power, but no group has taken firm control of the African country.

Another Bosnian Atrocity

When U.N. military officers reached the mountain village of Stupni Do, in central Bosnia, they found the bodies of more than 25 Muslims burned, machine- gunned and slashed by Croats. The discovery marked the first time during the Bosnian war that U.N. troops had reached such a site soon enough to determine exactly what had occurred.

Somali Clans Battle

Encouraged perhaps by the decision of the U.N. and the U.S. not to use military force to stop the fighting, rival clans waged gun battles all week in Mogadishu, killing at least 17 people. The shoot-outs among clans, the largest of which are led by General Mohammed Farrah Aidid and Mohammed Ali Mahdi, broke a seven-month cease-fire and stirred fears of a return to the civil war that raged from 1990 to 1992.

Russia Allows Sale of Land

President Boris Yeltsin wiped one of the last vestiges of communism from Russia's lawbooks with a decree allowing the purchase, sale, lease and exchange of land under terms that would be the freest in 70 years.

Give and Take in Georgia

With military help from neighboring countries, Georgian government regulars and rebel forces have each scored important victories against the other. Using Russian-supplied T-72 tanks and personnel, troops loyal to Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze drove the rebels into their last redoubt, in the western region of the republic. But with the help of reinforcements from Abkhazia, the separatists staged a powerful counteroffensive, recapturing an important town.

Irish Killings -- and Talks

After a week of violence in Northern Ireland in which 24 people were killed, Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds invited his British counterpart, John Major, to discuss a new peace initiative. The two leaders offered terrorist groups a chance to participate in negotiations if they renounce violence.

Parfum Methode Champenoise

Celebrating athletes may shower it on themselves in victory, but Champagne is meant to be drunk, not worn, a French court ruled. Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who introduced his newest scent, Champagne, to Europe on Sept. 20, has no right to use the name of the wine in France and must pay the three champagne producers who filed suit a total of $8,600.

BUSINESS

Viacom Edge on Paramount

Viacom raised its offer to $10 billion in its friendly attempt to merge with Paramount Communications and gained an advantage over rival QVC by making its tender two days ahead of QVC's $10.1 billion offer. Meanwhile, Paramount announced that it would join Chris-Craft Industries to launch a fifth national television network in January 1995.

Motorola Chief to Kodak

Photographic giant Eastman Kodak successfully wooed George Fisher, chairman of high-tech electronics firm Motorola, to become its new chairman and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Fisher had brilliantly positioned Motorola to compete in the new world of communications, and his move shocked the company's board and employees.

Troubled Volkswagen

In an effort to avoid laying off even more workers, Volkswagen's management board proposed a four-day workweek for its 108,000 workers at six western German factories -- and a wage cut of 16% to 20%.

Japan Opens a Market

Under a U.S. threat to impose trade sanctions, Japan agreed to make its government-contract construction market more open to foreign firms by adopting a competitive bidding system and promising to crack down on corruption in the industry. In response, the U.S. postponed the deadline for proposed sanctions from Nov. 1 to Jan. 20.

Looking Up

The economy picked up during the summer, expanding at a 2.8% annual rate despite floods and droughts that cut agricultural output, the Commerce Department announced. Inflation sank to a 1.8% annual rate, the lowest since 1986. On the strength of that news and of strong corporate-earnings reports, the Dow Jones industrial average hit two record highs and briefly crossed the 3700 barrier.

SCIENCE

Human Embryos Cloned

Researchers reported that for the first time they had cloned human embryos from single cells. Because the scientists worked with eggs that had been fertilized by more than one sperm, the duplicate embryos stopped developing after a week.

The Dinosaurs' Last Gasp

After analyzing ancient gas bubbles trapped in amber, geologists have identified a new culprit for the disappearance of the dinosaurs: bad air. The theorists calculate that the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere fell from 35% to 28% over the course of 500,000 years and suggest that the dinosaurs' respiratory systems were unable to adapt to the change.

THE ARTS & MEDIA

Words of Inspiration

British poet Stephen Spender, 84, sued to block the publication of American writer David Leavitt's new novel, While England Sleeps, in Britain. Spender maintains that Leavitt, 32, based his work too closely on events described in Spender's 1948 autobiography, World Within World.

Leonardo da Schnabel

In an unlikely marriage of art aristocracy and trendiness, one of the world's oldest and richest dealers in Old Masters and Impressionists, Wildenstein & Co., paid an undisclosed amount for 49% of Pace Gallery, a leader in contemporary art. The combined business will be the world's largest art dealership.