THE WEEK

By MELISSA AUGUST, LINA LOFARO, ALICE PARK, MICHAEL QUINN, JEFFERY C. RUBIN, ALAIN L. SANDERS AND SIDNEY URQUHART

NATION

O.J. WALKS

The nation came to a standstill on Tuesday as Americans from the President on down--57% of the country, according to one poll--tuned in to hear the jury's decision in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial. Coming with unexpected swiftness, after less than four hours of deliberation, the not-guilty verdict by the mostly black jury caused a whiplash of reaction--from stunned disbelief to ecstatic cheers of joy. The immediate postmortems polarized along racial lines even as the first jurors to speak to the press said they had based their decision strictly on the prosecution's failure to present convincing evidence.

THE POPE LANDS IN AMERICA

On his latest visit to the U.S., Pope John Paul II went to New Jersey, New York and Maryland and brought to the United Nations an appeal for cultural diversity. He told his American audiences not to ignore the poor and the vulnerable, and he reiterated many of the themes--including his steadfast opposition to abortion--that have led to the greatest paradox of his papacy in the U.S.: widespread dissent from many of his teachings on morality but immense affection for him personally.

A PRESIDENTIAL APOLOGY

President Clinton issued a rare statement for a President: an apology on behalf of the whole nation to the thousands of Americans who were subjected to secret radiation tests sponsored by the government during the cold war. The President accepted the recommendation of a special commission that some of the subjects, many of whom never gave their clear consent, be compensated.

MEDICARE MANEUVERS

The Democratic assault on the G.O.P.'s plans for a Medicare overhaul continued unabated. Attacking hearings on the subject as inadequate, rushed and stacked, Democrats walked out of a House Commerce Committee session devoted to the G.O.P.'s proposal, which seeks to channel more seniors into private insurance and HMO plans. Senate Democrats unveiled an alternate plan that they said would keep the current system intact and save $89 billion, a third of the sum advocated by Republicans.

HOLD THE PRESSES

Setting the stage for a First Amendment appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, an Ohio federal judge affirmed his initial ruling barring Business Week from publishing an article on a pending lawsuit filed by Procter & Gamble against Bankers Trust. The ruling is a classic example of unconstitutional prior restraint, according to the magazine. The censored article was based on documents under court seal in the lawsuit. In an ironic twist, however, Judge John Feikens unsealed the documents in his new decision--thus enabling the magazine to belatedly print its story, though it lost the legal argument.

ATTENTION, FEMALE CADETS

The Supreme Court agreed to decide in the next few months another high-profile issue: whether state-supported and all-male Virginia Military Institute must admit women. The sex-discrimination case, whose outcome will also affect efforts by the Citadel in South Carolina to keep out women, will be decided by an eight-member bench; Justice Clarence Thomas disqualified himself because his son is a V.M.I. senior.

A BLACK GENERATION IN TROUBLE

On the heels of the Simpson verdict came a disturbing report from the Sentencing Project. The nonprofit organization, which favors alternatives to prison, found that nearly a third of American black males in their 20s are behind bars, on probation or on parole--largely because of tougher sentencing laws, particularly for drug offenses.

FLORIDA TAKES ANOTHER HIT

Hurricane Opal unleashed its fury across the Florida panhandle, the second storm to pummel the region this season. Opal's unexpectedly brutal winds and rain, which also pounded neighboring states, took at least 18 lives and caused an estimated $1.8 billion in property damage along the Gulf Coast, making it the third costliest storm in U.S. history.

A NEW UNABOMBER CLUE

Publication of the Unabomber's antitechnology treatise last month by the Washington Post has helped uncover a promising lead. An unidentified professor at Northwestern University has reportedly told investigators that he recognized in the tract the philosophies of a student from the 1970s who expounded on the evils of technology in an essay. The professor recalled that the author lived in the Chicago area, that his first name was Robert and that his last name began with V.

WORLD

SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY YIELDS FRUIT

U.S. mediator Richard Holbrooke's frenzied flights between Balkan capitals produced a 60-day cease-fire for Bosnia and Serbia. Another dividend: new talks--to be held in the U.S. later this month--on a permanent settlement to the 3 1/2-year-old war. The cease-fire takes effect this Tuesday, unless gas and electricity have not been restored to the besieged capital of Sarajevo; in that case, the cease-fire will begin on the day the utilities are reconnected. In the meantime, the combatants raced to take advantage of the dwindling days remaining for battle, with the Bosnian Serbs recapturing territory the Bosnian army had only recently retaken. Keeping in mind scores of broken Bosnian cease-fires, President Clinton said, "We need to be clear-eyed about this. It matters what the parties do, not just what they say."

U.S. BLASTED FOR DEBT TO U.N.

The U.S. is nearly $1.4 billion in arrears to the United Nations, pushing the international body to the brink of bankruptcy and prompting angry rebukes by such American allies as Britain, Canada, France and Germany. British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind summed up the bitterness caused by America's delinquency: "No representation without taxation!" The U.S. Congress has been reluctant to vote funds for the U.N., alleging financial mismanagement by the international body.

BOMB HURTS MACEDONIAN LEADER

A remote-controlled car bomb gravely injured Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov and killed his driver when it detonated on a street in Skopje, the former Yugoslav Republic's capital. Parliament Speaker Stojan Andov was named interim President. At least three pieces of shrapnel struck Gligorov, who suffered head injuries and the loss of an eye. Credited with overseeing Macedonia's transition to independence in 1991, he had taken a conciliatory line toward ethnic Albanians' campaign for autonomy and in foreign relations with Greece--prompting speculation that the bombing was the work of Macedonian nationalists. Suspicion is also directed at Albanian secessionists. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

GADDAFI EXPELS PALESTINIANS

In yet another of the flamboyant and contradictory gestures that have marked his 26-year rule, Muammar Gaddafi began expelling Libya's 30,000 Palestinians to protest the Israeli-P.L.O. accord, which he called "treason, lies and a sham." Gaddafi's main criticism: the agreement makes no provision for the Palestinians expelled in 1948 from what is now Israel. As many as 1,000 of Libya's Palestinians are stranded at the frontier with Egypt, which refuses to allow them to enter because they have no travel documents. Gaddafi said he would create a permanent refugee camp for Palestinians on the border if necessary, and even offered to join them, noting, "I can bring my own tent."

YELTSIN HEIR APPARENT BOWS OUT

Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin, widely seen as the successor to President Boris Yeltsin, said he was not planning to run for President in next June's elections. Yeltsin, who is recovering from a heart attack and remains highly unpopular with voters, has not announced his candidacy, but insiders believe he will run.

CLINTON EASES OPEN CUBAN DOOR

President Clinton loosened restrictions on Americans' interaction with Cuba by signing an order that permits, among other things, travel to Cuba by academics, clergy and Cuban Americans and allows U.S. news organizations to open bureaus in Cuba--and vice versa.

THE ARTS & MEDIA

IRISH POET WINS THE NOBEL

Seamus Heaney, 56, the Irish poet, teacher and essayist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. A Catholic who grew up on a farm near Belfast, Heaney was praised for his "analysis of violence in Northern Ireland," but his intense, lyrical verse transcends politics.

--By Melissa August, Lina Lofaro, Alice Park, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders and Sidney Urquhart