News Digest August 15-21

By Ginia Bellafante, Christopher John Farley, Richard Lacayo, Erik Meers, Alain Sanders, Sophfronia Scott Gregory, Sidney Urquhart

NATION

And Now, Health Care

Unwearied by his recent daunting budget battle, President Clinton dove straight into what will surely be another long, difficult and tedious legislative fight, this time over a program to improve the nation's health care. In a speech to the National Governors' Association, Clinton outlined his plan to provide coverage for all Americans. Under the program, employers would be required to provide health insurance for every worker at a cost that could range from 3.5% to 7% of a payroll.

U.S. Troops, U.N. Chiefs

In a move to expand Americans' role in United Nations peacekeeping operations, President Clinton is considering allowing U.S. troops to serve under foreign U.N. commanders. The directive, backed by the State and Defense departments, would come as the U.N. is undertaking more peacekeeping efforts than at any other time in its history.

Science Fiction

The Defense Department is investigating allegations that the Reagan Administration falsified a crucial test of the Strategic Defense Initiative, the dreamy antimissile defense system that became known as Star Wars. Officials allegedly used the information to deceive both the Soviet Union, which spent billions trying to match SDI's putative success, and Congress, which voted to continue sdi funding right after the test results were announced.

Jordan Murder Suspects Held

Just days after discovering that James Jordan, the father of Michael Jordan, had been murdered, police in Lumberton, North Carolina, arrested two youths in connection with the killing. Larry Martin Demery and Daniel Andre Green, both 18, are charged with robbing and murdering Jordan. Police found the pair by tracing calls they had made on the cellular phone while joyriding in Jordan's Lexus.

Sheik's Deportation Pending

Time was running out last week for radical Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. A federal judge refused to stay a deportation order for the blind cleric, giving him and his lawyers until the end of this week to file an appeal. The sheik's followers are charged with terrorist plots in New York City, including last February's bombing of the World Trade Center.

True Confession?

Eager to quell speculation about the death of reported CIA agent Fred Woodruff, officials in the Republic of Georgia say he was killed when a soldier, refused a lift, fired once at the car Woodruff was riding in as it passed by.

Abortion Doctor Shot

For the second time this year an antiabortion protester has shot a doctor who performs abortions. Rachelle Renae Shannon, 37, of Grants Pass, Oregon, is accused of wounding Dr. George Tiller in both arms outside his Wichita, Kansas, clinic. Shannon is in custody, but Tiller was back at work the next day.

Bio-Parents Rebuffed

A Florida judge ruled that Kimberly Mays could end all contact with her biological parents, Regina and Ernest Twigg. Kimberly was accidentally switched at birth with another girl whom the Twiggs discovered was not their daughter after she died of a congenital heart defect five years ago. The judge ruled that the Twiggs have "no legal interest in or rights to Kimberly Mays," while deeming Robert Mays, who has raised the girl, to be her "psychological parent."

WORLD

Bosnia Partition Plan

Negotiators in Geneva have devised a new accord, backed by Serbia and Croatia, to end the fighting in Bosnia. Bosnian Serbs rejected the Vance-Owen peace plan last May, but are more enthusiastic about the new scheme, which would create a demilitarized union of ethnic zones guaranteed by the presence of U.N. troops. Bosnian Muslims remain reluctant to endorse a partition that allows Serbs to hold onto substantial territories taken by aggression. Mediators have given the opposing sides just 10 days to accept or reject this latest initiative.

Terror in Cairo

Four people were killed and at least 15 injured in an attempt to assassinate Egypt's Interior Minister, Hassan al-Alfi, who has led a crackdown on Islamic militants. Al-Alfi's car was rocked by a bomb not far from Cairo's busy Tahrir Square. Islamic Jihad, the group that killed President Anwar Sadat in 1981, took responsibility. Muslim fundamentalists have waged a violent two-year campaign to replace the Western-leaning government of President Hosni Mubarak with an Islamic regime.

Strike, Counterstrike

Step 1: in an attack by Islamic Resistance, the military wing of Hizballah, seven Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon. Step 2: Israel retaliated with an air attack on Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla bases in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Two more Israeli soldiers died in a subsequent attack. Last week 395 Palestinians who have been stranded in southern Lebanon since being deported by Israel last December agreed to a plan that would return just under half of them to the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip next month. Israel says the remaining deportees will return home this December.

Skirmish over Iraq

An Iraqi air-defense battery near the city of Mosul fired two surface-to-air missiles at a pair of U.S. jets patrolling the U.N.-imposed "no-fly zone" over northern Iraq. Though the attackers missed their targets, the U.S. response was swift and unusually aggressive. After fighter-bombers dropped cluster bombs on the antiaircraft site, laser-guided bombs were directed at it by another pair of U.S. planes.

A Yeltsin Critic Under Fire

The struggle between President Boris Yeltsin and one of his most tenacious opponents, Vice President Alexander Rutskoi, got nastier. Rutskoi was accused of corruption -- by an official commission Yeltsin organized.

Massacre of the Yanomami

For years Brazilian gold miners have been pressing to prospect on the 37,000- sq.-mi. homeland of the Yanomami Indians. Rebuffed by the Brazilian government, which has sent police to break up their encampments, the miners apparently have turned to murderous violence against the Yanomami. In the worst outbreak to date, miners massacred more than 30 members of the tribe last week, including 10 children, some of whom were decapitated by machetes. International outcry over the killings could lead to trouble for Brazil in its requests for loans from international lenders.

BUSINESS

The Phone Company Is Back

AT&T announced it would acquire McCaw Cellular Communications, the nation's largest cellular-telephone company, for $12.6 billion. The pending deal has prompted antitrust concerns as Ma Bell hopes to stake its place in the booming wireless communications business, bypassing the Baby Bell systems that now handle cellular calls.

The Bulls of Summer Run On

Falling interest rates -- the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond hit new lows --and surging foreign stocks led investors to bid up U.S. stocks, breaking records across the board. The Dow Jones industrial average rose past 3600 for the first time in its history, while other, broader market indexes stood at or near record levels as well.

Educational Barbie

Mattel, maker of Barbie, is buying Fisher-Price in a deal that could soon make Mattel the world's biggest toy company. Mattel will use stock to cover the purchase price of $1 billion for the company known for its educational toys for preschoolers.

The Mighty Yen Worries All

Last week's strong showing by the yen caused consternation from Washington to Tokyo amid worries that it could stunt the growth of the Japanese economy and destabilize markets in the U.S. The Federal Reserve helped boost the dollar by purchasing large quantities of the currency. The move marks a realization in the Clinton Administration that the yen has appreciated far enough, and the new government in Tokyo needs time to get its economic policies in order.

SCIENCE

A Civilization's Autopsy

Archaeologists who study the ancient Middle East have long puzzled over the collapse around 2200 B.C. of the Akkadian Empire, the world's earliest noteworthy civilization, which flourished in a region that is today part of Iraq and Syria. Now scientists believe they have the answer: a severe drought that lasted for three centuries turned the Akkadians' once rich farming region into a desert. Harvey Weiss, a Yale University archaeologist, headed a French- American team whose examination of soil samples led them to conclude that a disastrous dry spell followed a powerful volcanic eruption that blanketed the region with a thin layer of ash. The researchers, who published their conclusions in the latest issue of the journal Science, believe the drought was part of a climate change that devastated agricultural life from Egypt to India.

MEDIA & THE ARTS

Dateline NBC Again Under Fire

A North Carolina eye clinic revived the embarrassing GM truck incident for NBC's newsmagazine show Dateline when it notified the network of its plans to sue if the show does not apologize for a story done on the clinic. The report implied that the clinic's doctors recommended needless cataract surgery in order to cash in on Medicare reimbursements. Executives at NBC say the case has no basis, noting the show has become an easy target for such accusations since the GM segment aired.

Ted Buys a Piece of Hollywood

The Turner Broadcasting System satisfied its chairman's nagging desire to enter the movie business by agreeing to buy two of Hollywood's most successful small companies. Turner paid more than $600 million, mostly in stock, for New Line Cinema, famous for its Freddy Krueger horror flicks, and Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced such recent hits as A Few Good Men and In the Line of Fire.