THE WEEK

By BY LINA LOFARO, BELINDA LUSCOMBE, MICHAEL QUINN, JEFFERY C. RUBIN AND SIDNEY URQUHART

NATION

NO FIRE IN HIS BELLY

"To offer myself as a candidate for President requires...a passion and commitment that despite my every effort, I do not have for political life." With these words Gulf War hero and celebrity author Colin Powell put an end to months of speculation and bowed out of the 1996 presidential race. His wife Alma's deeply held fears that "a lot of crazy people out there" might try to kill Powell are believed to have played a part in his decision, though the couple denied that was so.

AND IN THIS YEAR'S ELECTIONS...

The results may not be proof of a Democratic revival, but at the very least the party held its ground in last Tuesday's off-year elections, which many candidates had framed as an early referendum on the so-called Republican Revolution. The results:

GOVERNORS

In Kentucky, Democrat Paul Patton won a narrow victory over Republican Larry Forgy, while Mississippi's Republican incumbent Kirk Fordice trounced his Democratic opponent Dick Molpus in one of the day's few bright spots for the G.O.P.

MAYORS

Voters in Gary, Indiana, where nearly 90% of the residents are black, elected Democrat Scott King their first white mayor in 28 years. In San Francisco, Willie Brown, California's flamboyant former state-assembly speaker, faces a Dec. 12 runoff against decidedly unflamboyant incumbent Frank Jordan (who weirdly sought to liven up his image shortly before the election by showering in the nude with two local disc jockeys). In Baltimore and Philadelphia, no surprises: Democratic incumbents Kurt Schmoke and Edward Rendell won easily.

STATE LEGISLATURES

It was a bad day for the G.O.P. in Virginia, where the strenuous efforts of Governor George Allen and the national party failed to win control of the legislature. In Maine, Democrats picked up a one-seat margin in the House, having lost their majority earlier this year as a result of party defections. And in Mississippi, despite Fordice's big victory, the legislature remained in Democratic hands.

PROPOSITIONS

Maine voters rejected an anti-gay rights measure. Gambling fared badly in Washington, where Indian tribes failed to convince voters that they need 24-hour casinos. In Missouri, a riverboat-gambling proposal was sunk, as was an effort to win floating casinos for Indiana. And in the year's most colorful campaign, "gonzo" journalist Hunter Thompson persuaded voters in Aspen, Colorado, to unite against "the greed heads" and the "absentee-landlord scum" seeking to expand the town's airport to accommodate big jets.

BUDGET SKIRMISHING

The Republican-controlled Congress and the Democratic White House remained on a collision course over balancing the federal budget. The House and Senate sent President Clinton a bill adding $67 billion to the nation's $4.9 trillion debt ceiling, and will probably follow it with a measure extending government spending for a few weeks. However, Clinton is expected to veto the bills because of extraneous provisions he finds unacceptable. The likely result is a brief shutdown of nonessential government operations as the two sides find a compromise on the spending measure. One possible stopgap solution to the impasse over the debt ceiling: "borrowing" from the pension and savings of federal employees.

TROUBLE IN UNIFORM

The Tailhook-tainted U.S. Navy found itself scrambling to deal with a new sex scandal. This time, as reported in the Washington Post, a chief petty officer was charged with drunkenly groping a young female colleague during a commercial-airline flight. An additional 20 or so sailors were also on board--including a Navy chaplain with the rank of lieutenant commander--who apparently did nothing to intervene, despite the woman's screams. Further unwelcome news for Navy brass: some two dozen midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy are under investigation for alleged marijuana and LSD use.

HAZEL'S "ENEMIES LIST"

It was a political blunder sure to provoke nostalgia for the Nixon Administration: the Wall Street Journal reported that Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary hired a Washington firm to investigate reporters and news organizations in an effort to determine the sources of negative stories about the department. Though O'Leary got a stern rebuke from the White House, it decided she could stay at her post.

WORLD

ISRAEL BURIES RABIN

More than 60 world leaders, including President Clinton and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George Bush, gathered in Jerusalem as assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was laid to rest on Mount Herzl, burial ground of Israeli heroes. Grieving Israelis exhausted the country's supply of mourning candles and stood weeping as a two-minute siren sounded. p.l.o. Chairman Yasser Arafat, who did not attend the funeral, later made a quiet 90-minute visit to Tel Aviv to offer condolences to Rabin's widow Leah.

ROUNDUP IN ISRAEL

Israeli police arrested Hagai Amir, brother of Rabin's confessed killer Yigal Amir, as a suspected accomplice in the slaying. Authorities discovered a large cache of weapons, including explosives, at Yigal Amir's home. Also taken into custody for possible involvement: Avishai Raviv, the leader of a radical right-wing group; a member of an elite army unit and his father; and three other men with links to Yigal Amir.

PROGRESS IN BOSNIA TALKS

Creating what Secretary of State Warren Christopher called "an essential building block to peace," Croats and Muslims signed an agreement at talks in Dayton, Ohio, to strengthen their political and economic federation, which would control one part of Bosnia; the remaining territory would be Serb-run. But lest the meetings become too productive, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman renewed his threat to retake a strip of Serb-held territory in eastern Croatia if negotiations do not provide its return by Nov. 30. Christopher warned Croatian leaders not to use force.

SERVICEMEN ADMIT RAPE ROLES

Three American servicemen admitted their roles in the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl on the island of Okinawa, a crime that has threatened the military alliance between the U.S. and Japan. If convicted, the men face up to life in prison. At a press conference in Atlanta, the defendants' families maintained the confessions had been coerced by military authorities.

NIGERIA EXECUTES NINE CRITICS

The military government of Nigeria hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa, a prominent author and critic of the regime, along with eight others who had been accused with him of involvement in the murder of four pro-government leaders last year. Saro-Wiwa maintained his innocence to the end; his supporters say he and his co-defendants were framed. After the executions, the U.S. and several other countries withdrew their ambassadors, and the Commonwealth nations of Britain and its former colonies, meeting in New Zealand, suspended Nigeria.

RUSSIANS UNDER U.S. COMMAND

U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry and Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev agreed on a unique command structure that would allow Russian troops to serve as part of a prospective peacekeeping force for Bosnia. The trick? Instead of placing the 1,000 infantry troops under NATO command, an option unacceptable to Russia after more than four decades of cold war opposition to the alliance, the Russian soldiers would be under American command. However, American orders would be subject to approval by Russian subordinates. A nato diplomat described the unusual arrangement as "a fig leaf."

BUSINESS

PESO DIVES TO NEW LOW

Traders' uncertainty over Mexico's economic-recovery plans drove the country's currency to a record closing low of 7.80 pesos to the dollar despite the Mexican government's best efforts, which included raising short-term interest rates nearly 11 points, to 55.5%.

SCIENCE

NEW AIDS DRUGS ENDORSED

An FDA advisory panel recommended the full approval of three new anti-AIDS drugs. One drug, called saquinavir, is the first in a new generation of potent AIDS fighters known as protease inhibitors, which attack the virus in the late stages of its reproduction.

--By Lina Lofaro, Belinda Luscombe, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin and Sidney Urquhart