The Week June 26 - July 2

By Christopher John Farley, Christine Gorman, Lina Lofaro, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders, Sidney Urquhart and Sarah Van Boven

NATION

Health-Care Maneuvers

In a major victory for President Clinton and new chairman Sam Gibbons, the House Ways and Means Committee narrowly approved a universal health-care reform package. Similar to the Administrations proposal, it would require employers to pay most workers' insurance coverage, with breaks for small businesses. On the Senate side, however, the pivotal finance committee voted down employer payments for workers' insurance. Complicating matters, minority leader Bob Dole produced a modest package of insurance reforms that immediately drew the backing of 39 Republican Senators.

The Simpson Case

Televised live and nationwide, court proceedings to determine whether there is enough evidence to try O.J. Simpson for murdering his ex-wife and her friend got under way. Simpson's attorney Robert Shapiro immediately mounted an aggressive defense, asking that key pieces of evidence be suppressed because, he claimed, they were improperly seized by police. Prosecutors obtained judicial permission to get 40 to 100 hairs from Simpson in order to compare them scientifically with strands found in a cap at the murder scene, and a Los Angeles store employee testified that he sold a 15-in. knife to Simpson in May. No murder weapon has yet been found by police. On Friday, the defense turned over a new piece of evidence in a sealed mystery envelopeleading to intensive nationwide speculation about what was in it.

Meet the New Boss

Seeking to anchor his Administration with more authoritative leadership, President Clinton named Budget Director Leon Panetta as his new chief of staff, replacing Mack McLarty, who will remain as senior counselor. The President shifted another White House aide, image molder David Gergen, to new foreign policy responsibilities as special adviser to both the President and the Secretary of State.

The First Whitewater Report

Releasing the results of the first phase of his investigation, Whitewater special counsel Robert Fiske said he had found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the White House and Treasury officials who shared information about the progress of an investigation into the S&L at the heart of the Whitewater affair. Fiske also announced that the suicide of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster was just thatand not related to Whitewater or other financial matters of the Clintons.

Charlotte Plane Crash

USAir Flight 1016, carrying 55 people, crashed early Saturday evening while trying to land at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in a storm. At least 18 people were confirmed dead, and witnesses reported numerous injuries. The DC-9 jet, en route from Columbia, S.C., struck trees and telephone poles before hitting a house.

Time Out, Please

President Clintons lawyers asked the Arkansas federal judge overseeing Paula Jones sexual-harassment lawsuit to halt the case until after Clinton leaves office. The Clinton legal team argued that the President should be immune from private civil claims while in office so that he can carry on the business of the nation undistracted by litigation. Meanwhile, the President and First Lady announced the creation of an unprecedented legal-defense fund in their behalf, to be administered by a blue-ribbon panel of trustees. Only individuals will be allowed to contribute to the fund, and only up to $1,000 annually.

Supreme Court Decisions

Concluding its 1993-94 term, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down important decisions on abortion, religion, voting rights and the death penalty. By a 6- to-3 vote the Justices upheld, against a free-speech challenge, a 36-ft. buffer zone created by a Florida judge to protect a clinic from antiabortion protesters. And in another 6-to-3 vote the Justices declared unconstitutional a New York State school district that had been specially created to accommodate the disabled children of a small community of Hasidic Jews. The court also ruled that the federal Voting Rights Act does not require the creation of the largest possible number of minority election districts.

WORLD

Arafat Visits Gaza Strip

P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat visited the newly autonomous Gaza Strip, ending a 27-year absence from his homeland. Speaking before 70,000 supporters in Gaza City, Arafat promised to build a democratic and free homeland for the Palestinians. In a brief assassination scare during the speech, two Israelis were seized by Palestinian security personnel for possessing handguns. They were later released.

Is Asia's Berlin Wall Cracking?

North and South Korea announced a three-day summit beginning July 25 in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. The meeting will mark the first exchange between the two countries top leaders since the Korean peninsula was divided in 1945. U.S. negotiators are to meet with North Korean officials in Geneva this Friday to discuss Pyongyangs nuclear program, which is suspected of producing nuclear weapons.

Strange Bedfellows in Japan

The conservative Liberal Democratic Party formed a coalition with its ideological antithesis and elected Socialist Party leader Tomiichi Murayama the countrys new Prime Minister. The election is a blow to the reform movement hoping to clean up Japanese politics: the corruption-racked L.D.P. ruled Japan for four decades before it was swept from power last summer in the wake of a series of scandals.

Haitian Refugee Tide Surges

The U.S. Coast Guard picked up more than 5,000 refugees off the coast of Haiti last week; by comparison, 2,329 Haitians were intercepted during all of 1993. To cope with the flood, President Clinton reopened a processing center at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba. The U.S. also announced that it was revoking all nonimmigrant visas held by Haitians and would stop issuing new immigrant visas, in an effort to pressure Haiti's military leaders to step down.

Hutu Flee Rwandan Rebels

Nearly a quarter-million Hutu crowded refugee camps in south-central Rwanda, trying to escape from advancing Tutsi rebels who they fear will exact retribution for Hutu massacres of Tutsi in the country's three-month-old ethnic bloodbath. Meanwhile, French forces evacuated more than 100 Tutsi to Zaire and set up a protective cordon around an encampment of several hundred Tutsi threatened by Hutu. At week's end rebel Tutsi forces had completely surrounded the capital of Kigali.

World Cup Player Murdered

Andres Escobar, 27, a member of Colombias national soccer team, was gunned down early Saturday morning outside a bar near Medellin. During a June 22 World Cup match against the U.S., Escobar accidentally deflected a shot into Colombia's net. Defeat, elimination from World Cup play and death threats all ensued.

BUSINESS

Dollar Continues to Fall

Despite Treasury Secretary Bentsen's assurances that the Clinton Administration does not favor devaluing the dollar to strengthen exports, the greenback resumed its downward slide against the Japanese yen. Japans selection of a Socialist Prime Minister sent U.S. currency to a new low as continued devaluation fueled speculation that the Fed will soon raise short- term interest rates for the fifth time this year.

CBS and QVC to Merge

CBS announced that it will merge with QVC to create an entertainment giant with ties to both network programming and the cable-television industry. The deal, valued at more than $7 billion, will form a conglomerate headed by QVC chairman and former 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller. CBS stock jumped $50 a share, to $313, following Thursday's announcement.

SPORTS

What a Way to Say Goodbye

Martina Navratilova, demonstrating the talent that won her a record nine Wimbledon singles titles, attempted to capture her 10th, defeating Gigi Fernandez to advance to the finals. But on Saturday, Conchita Martinez, 22, defeated the 37-year-old Navratilova in a blazing 1 hr., 59-min. match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to win her own first Grand Slam title. Asked after the match whether this would be her final trip to Wimbledon, Navratilova replied: "Definitely. Enough."

Tonya: The Coda

$ After a two-day hearing, a disciplinary panel of the U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of her national title and barred her from the organization for life for her role in the assault on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan.