Time

54

COVER: The race is on to develop computers that are both fast and smart

For 40 years, the two grand quests of computer science -- to design ever swifter supercomputers and to endow machines with artificial intelligence -- have each proceeded as if the other did not exist. Now, spurred by technological breakthroughs and an explosion of commercial interest, these two avenues of research may be converging. See TECHNOLOGY.

14

NATION: In court and on the battlefield, the contra issue burns anew

After 15 months of investigation, a federal grand jury indicts Poindexter, North and two other Iranscam conspirators. -- A Sandinista "invasion" leads Reagan to send 3,200 U. S. troops to Honduras. -- In the wake of the Illinois primary, the Democratic race is more muddled than ever. -- A quiet town on the Hudson River is rocked by a controversial racial attack.

32

WORLD: A thwarted coup in Panama pushes Noriega toward the brink

The besieged military strongman meets U. S. emissaries to negotiate a deal that will let him step down safely. But drug indictments against the general are a sticking point. -- In Northern Ireland, a vicious cycle of funerals and violent deaths. -- Shamir sidesteps a U. S. peace plan. -- Is the Soviet Union playing defense? -- Civil war blocks food for Ethiopia' s drought victims.

48

Economy & Business

Congress shapes a bill to help trim the trade deficit. -- The Postal Service cuts service but hikes prices. -- Kuwait' s BP connection.

64

Living

Christian Lacroix' s ready- to- wear debut makes Paris headlines, but some great clothes turn up in small shows and no- shows.

66

Press

Travel magazines flock to separate the despised tourist from the preferred traveler and to cash in on a taste for vacation indulgence.

70

Medicine

A new study rekindles a troubling debate about whether women under 50 benefit from regular mammograms to detect breast cancer.

74

Cinema

Robert Redford directs The Milagro Beanfield War, a humanist parable with all the right motives and a few of the wrong moves.

76

Music

In Boston an ambitious three- week festival takes the measure of Soviet composers, and they come up a little short.

77

Books

Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes a love story that throbs with the human comedy. -- David Brinkley' s wartime Washington.

86

Video

The Fox Network has stumbled often in its first year of battling the Big Three, but the scrappy newcomer is making its mark.

6 Letters

8 American Scene

69 Milestones

71 Religion

79 Environment

81 Health & Fitness

88 People

Cover: Illustration by Jean Francois Podevin