Table of Contents

COVER: The U.S. staggers under the burden of soaring insurance rates 16

After years of eye-popping damage awards and shortsighted industry practices, buyers of liability policies face crippling bills--if they can obtain coverage at all. The crisis is hampering the operations of countless businessmen, professionals and government officials. But in the end it affects everyone, since the exploding cost of insurance is inevitably passed on to consumers.

BUSINESS: The stock market goes wild as cheap oil triggers a "virtuous cycle" 56

The bulls were really running last week. From consumers to financiers, nearly everyone was celebrating the belief that the economy is kicking into high gear. Thanks to low inflation, the boom machine could hum smoothly for years. Carl Icahn, TWA's new chairman and top stockholder, struggles with a strike and mounting losses. The World Bank's new lender in chief.

CINEMA: Women movie directors break a barrier and make some hits 82

In old Hollywood, the director was the guy in the safari jacket and jodhpurs who ruled the set with the whip of machismo. Now the person who calls the shots is often a woman. Pictures by such directors as Amy Heckerling and Susan Seidelman are both making money and dragging a reluctant film industry into the age of equal opportunity.

28 Nation

Amid recriminations, the remains of the Challenger crew are recovered. The Pentagon's secret budget swells dramatically.

74 Education

Angry Texas teachers object to a test that may put some of them out of a job. Brown University defends students arrested for prostitution.

40 World

France faces national elections and a hostage crisis. Aquino settles into office. In Israel, a party battle stuns Shamir.

77 Sport

The McRaes of Kansas City, Hal and Brian, bring spring to the baseball camps, and legacies are busting out all over.

67 Space

A European spacecraft makes some surprising discoveries about the frozen core of Halley's comet, and survives a dusty encounter.

78 Theater

Kevin Kline's Hamlet, mordantly funny and a persuasive whirlpool of contradictions, establishes him atop his generation of actors.

69 Law

In a New York donnybrook, it is Johnson vs. Johnson as the heirs of the Johnson & Johnson fortune contest a multimillion-dollar will.

95 Essay

Congress should pass aid to the contras, while the Administration should pursue a diplomatic solution in earnest.

5 Letters 12 American Scene 68 Medicine 73 Religion 79 People 84 Milestones 85 Books 88 Design 89 Show Business

COVER: Illustration by Guy Billout