The Week May 22-28

By Melissa August, Philip Elmer-DeWitt, C.J. Farley, Barry Hillenbrand, Lina Lofaro, Michael Quinn, Jeffery Rubin and Alain Sanders

NATION

Clinton Blinks on China Trade

In another foreign policy retreat, President Clinton, under heavy pressure from business interests, announced the renewal of most-favored-nation trade status for China, despite its failure to significantly improve its human- rights record. "We have reached the end of the usefulness" of linking Chinese trade with human rights, said the President, who, echoing the Bush policies he had previously criticized, now pledged to "engage" rather than "isolate" the Chinese.

Rosty Up to His Neck

House Ways and Means chairman Dan Rostenkowski found himself in the midst of an intensifying maelstrom of speculation over whether he would accept a plea bargain -- and prison time -- in a federal corruption case. Democrats fear his departure from the key committee could leave health reform without a guiding hand.

A Big Win Boosts the G.O.P.

Republicans licked their chops over their victory in a special congressional election in which Republican Ron Lewis beat out Democrat Joe Prather for a Kentucky seat that had been Democratic for more than a century. Political analysts, as well as some Democrats, echoed the G.O.P. claim that the Democratic defeat underscored dissatisfaction with President Clinton.

Costly Copter Ride

An afternoon of golf at a private Maryland club, complete with convenient round-trip service aboard a presidential helicopter, led to a public outcry and cost White House director of administration David Watkins his job when an angry President Clinton learned about the trip.

Two States Target Tobacco

Opening a new front in the flaring smoking war, Mississippi filed suit against the nation's tobacco companies to obtain reimbursement for the money it pays, through Medicaid and other health programs, to treat patients with smoking- related diseases. Mississippi's assault was quickly followed by Florida, whose Governor signed a law enabling it to file lawsuits against cigarette makers on behalf of Medicaid patients.

Terrorist Bombers Sentenced

Using words like "coward" and "hypocrite" to describe the defendants, New York Federal Judge Kevin Duffy angrily sentenced each of the four Islamic militants convicted for last year's World Trade Center bombing to 240 years in prison, virtually ensuring that each will stay behind bars for life.

Civil Rights Settlements

Denying it had a policy of racial discrimination, the Denny's restaurant chain nonetheless agreed to pay a blockbuster $54.4 million to settle class-action charges that it refused to serve black customers or treated them shabbily. A day later, in a $75,000 settlement, the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston publicly apologized for assigning an all-white staff to serve visiting Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Farewell to a First Lady

In a simple ceremony, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was buried in Arlington National Cemetery next to her murdered first husband, President John F. Kennedy, and next to the eternal flame she lit for him three decades ago. "She was a blessing to us and to the nation -- and a lesson to the world on how to do things right," eulogized Senator Edward Kennedy.

WORLD

No Peace for Bosnia

Bosnian Serbs continued to defy a NATO ultimatum to remove troops from an exclusion zone around Gorazde, endangering an attempt by U.S., European and Russian diplomats to try to revive stalled peace talks. Meanwhile, Bosnian . President Alija Izetbegovic said his Muslim-led government is considering a proposal that would give 51% of the country to a Muslim-Croat coalition and the remaining 49% to the Serbs -- but first he wants the U.S. to make clear its intent to support or reject such a plan.

Porous "Embargo"

U.S. warships fired across the bows of two vessels defying the newly imposed economic embargo around Haiti, but only one of the ships was detained -- and then just briefly. The other, a Bahamian tug, broke through the security cordon and soon after began unloading contraband fuel in the port of Jacmel. Said a longtime resident: "It has been years since the port has been this busy. The ships have been triple-parked out there."

Israel Seals Off Jericho

Saying it was giving the nascent Palestinian government in Jericho time to complete its police organization, Israel sealed its borders to Arab residents of the West Bank town for 24 hours. The closure came in response to an incident in which Palestinian police disarmed two Jewish settlers, whose rights to carry weapons in the self-rule area remain in dispute. Meanwhile, P.L.O. leader Yasser Arafat declared that he had reinstated the laws that had been in effect before the Israelis seized the occupied territories in 1967, a move quickly criticized by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Russia Seeks Fuller NATO Link

Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev told NATO Defense Ministers that Russia wants a full strategic relationship with the alliance -- including regular consultations on issues such as nuclear weaponry and crisis management -- that would go beyond the membership in the Partnership for Peace program it has been offered. But NATO officials expressed strong reservations about any expanded role for Russia.

Deadly Stampede at Mecca

Nearly 270 pilgrims were killed during the hajj in Islam's holiest city when crowds surged forward, knocking people off an overpass and trampling others underfoot. A record 2.5 million people made the pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian city this year.

Rebels Gain in Rwanda

Twenty-mile-long columns of Hutu refugees fearing retribution streamed from Kigali as Tutsi rebels pressed their advantage for the Rwandan capital. U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, clearly frustrated, decried the massacre of more than 200,000 people, most of them Tutsi killed by Hutu, as "a failure for the international community ... all of us are responsible."

Yemen Peace Effort Rejected

Leaders from the Northern part of Yemen turned down a proposal by the South to bring in mediators from the Arab League to end the country's month-old civil war. The South stipulated that the two opposing armies retreat across their former border. Northern forces had earlier seized the oil-rich province of Shabwah.

Taking Another Step

Four months after President Clinton lifted a 19-year-old trade embargo with the former American enemy, the U.S. and Vietnam announced that they will open diplomatic missionsin each other's capital, though they will not exchange ambassadors.

Antarctic Whaling Banned

The International Whaling Commission approved a permanent ban on whaling in a vast swath of ocean around Antarctica. Japan cast the only opposing vote.

BUSINESS

Revived Trade Talks

The U.S. and Japan have agreed to end a three-month stalemate in trade talks. The U.S. said it would not demand specific numerical targets for exports, while Japan pledged it would allow further access to its markets. No timetable has been set, but negotiators hope some progress will be made by the start of the Group of Seven economic summit, to be held in Italy in early July.

NAFTA Success

Mexico is fast overtaking Japan as the U.S.'s second largest export market because of the success of NAFTA and Japan's recession. First quarter figures totaled $11.9 billion in exports to Mexico and $12.9 billion to Japan. Canada remains the U.S.'s chief trading partner.

Underdog Network Soars

In what has been billed as the greatest realignment of affiliates in TV history, the Fox network, made a deal with New World Communications Group, to acquire 12 affiliate stations from CBS, NBC and ABC. The biggest casualty is CBS, which owned eight of the affiliates -- many in major markets -- and from which Fox acquired N.F.L. football last December.

SCIENCE

Hubble's Black Hole

Scientists using the newly repaired Hubble Space Telescope say they have found the first conclusive evidence of a black hole -- a gravitational monster with a mass equivalent to more than 2 million suns -- confirming a prediction based on theories Einstein put forward nearly 80 years ago.

"Killer Bug Ate My Face"

The British tabloids have been rife with stories about what they are calling "flesh-eating bacteria" -- or, in good alliterative Fleet Streetese, "galloping gangrene." Health authorities say the source of the scare is a complication of the common Group A streptococcus bacteria, which can produce a toxin that attacks soft tissue. Despite several recent cases in Britain, the disease is extremely rare.

RELIGION

A New Catechism

For the first time in more than four centuries, the Vatican has released a 688-page English-language catechism for the Roman Catholic Church, intended to be the definitive teaching tool of the faith. Though covering an array of contemporary topics, the new catechism adheres to traditional Catholic doctrine in its discussions.

THE ARTS & MEDIA

New Era at Smithsonian

Ira Michael Heyman, a former chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a current counselor to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, has been chosen chief executive to the Smithsonian Institution. Though he is the first nonscientist to be named, his fund-raising skill and political agility will be tested immediately. Economic pressures caused the institution to begin personnel cuts last week.

And the Palme d'Or Goes To . . .

Pulp Fiction, a film by 31-year-old American director Quentin Tarantino, won the coveted Golden Palm Award for Best Movie at the Cannes International Film Festival. Reaction to the violent movie about the Los Angeles underworld was divided, a testament to the sentiment Tarantino declared upon winning: "I don't make movies that bring people together."