Informed Sources

Hair Today, Lawsuit Tomorrow

Washington -- BARBARA BUSH has got herself into a tangle with hairdressers Yves and Nancy Graux. During the Bush Administration they agreed to do hair and occasional makeup for the First Lady in exchange for a nominal fee--and the promise of free publicity. Not wanting the image of cosmetic fussiness connected to the nation's Yankee grandmother, however, the White House skipped the publicity. The Grauxes, who can't get the Bushes to pay up, are expected to file suit any day.

Moscow's Mixed Signals

Damascus -- Syrian President HAFEZ ASSAD is watching events in Moscow closely. According to a Syrian insider, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and would-be President Alexander Rutskoi sent conflicting signals to a Syrian delegation that visited Russia to discuss the Middle East not long before last week's crisis in Moscow. "Rutskoi talked like the old communist leaders," says the insider. "He told the Syrians to 'stand up to imperialist aggression' and promised 'the Russians will back you.' But Yeltsin's people told the Syrians to do what the Americans told them."

Don't R.S.V.P. to Tailhook '93 Just Yet

Washington -- Navy flyers will want to reconsider attending the TAILHOOK ASSOCIATION CONVENTION set to begin Oct. 10 in San Diego. Navy brass sent a memo to active-duty and reserve flyers telling them that after years of cooperation, the Navy has "terminated all support, direct or indirect, for the Tailhook Association." Meanwhile, Navy Secretary John Dalton has quietly summoned to D.C. some two dozen officers who attended Tailhook to give them a chance to explain their conduct before their court cases go forward.