The Week November 21-27

By John F. Dickerson, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders, Anastasia Toufexis and Sidney Urquhart

NATION

Finally, Brady Passes

Republican opposition to the Brady gun-control bill collapsed under the weight of public opinion and Democratic political attacks, and the measure, already approved by the House, passed in the Senate by a voice vote nearly seven years after it was first introduced. The legislation will impose a five-day waiting period so background checks can be made on handgun purchasers. Senate minority leader Bob Dole objected to a provision calling for the waiting period to remain in place for five years; he wanted to eliminate the waiting period as soon as a computerized checking system was up and running. In the end Dole retreated, accepting a promise that his modification would be voted on next year.

House Campaign Reforms

Before members went home for the holidays, the House of Representatives approved congressional campaign-reform legislation that imposes voluntary spending caps (generally $600,000 for House candidates), limits PAC contributions and authorizes some public financing. The complex bill must still be reconciled with a Senate version.

Another Clinton Squeaker

After the Administration and its allies in Congress made a tremendous effort to defeat the measure, the House narrowly voted down a bipartisan bill crafted by younger members who sought new budget cuts of $90 billion over five years.

South Korea Summit

South Korean President Kim Young Sam visited Washington, and after delicate discussions he and Clinton announced that they would offer a "thorough and broad" package of rewards to North Korea if it first allowed inspection of its known nuclear facilities and resumed talks with South Korea over nuclear issues. Despite South Korea's reservations, the U.S. hinted that the inducements could include cancellation of yearly joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

White House Resignations

; Just when its gears seemed to be meshing smoothly, the Administration announced the resignation of two senior aides: Howard Paster, the President's chief congressional lobbyist, and Roy Neel, the deputy chief of staff. Both men said they were leaving because of the relentless pace of work in the Clinton White House. Paster has not disclosed his plans; Neel is reportedly considering a $500,000-a-year post with a telephone trade association.

Obesity Discrimination

In a major civil rights decision, a Boston federal appeals court ruled that job discrimination against severely obese people can violate federal disabilities laws. The ruling was a victory for 320-lb. Bonnie Cook, who, despite impeccable credentials, was refused a job as an attendant at a mental- health center because of her weight.

Clinton Sees Rushdie

In a reversal of Bush Administration policy, Clinton met with Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born British writer who is under a death threat from Iran because of his book The Satanic Verses. To minimize any undue provocation of Iran, no pictures of the encounter were taken. Nevertheless, after the meeting the head of Iran's judiciary labeled Clinton "the most hated among Muslims around the world."

Return of Dr. Death

Out on bail after having been charged in two deaths under Michigan's law banning assisted suicides, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the controversial right-to-die crusader, attended the suicide of Dr. Ali Khalili, 61, a rehabilitation physician suffering from extreme pain caused by bone cancer. It was the 20th suicide that Kevorkian had attended since 1990.

A Deliberate Baby Swap?

In a surprise statement, Patsy Webb, a former nurse's aide at the hospital in Florida where Kimberly Mays was born, said a doctor there had intentionally ordered that the girl be taken from her biological parents, Ernest and Regina Twigg, and be given to Robert and Barbara Mays. The Twiggs, who earlier this year lost their claim to Kimberly in court, called for a criminal investigation, which could begin this week.

WORLD

Italians Abandon Center

Voting in municipal elections held across the country, Italians cast ballots for neofascist and former communist candidates in record numbers. The rejection of the ruling Christian Democrats and their coalition partners was due in part to their role in Italy's huge corruption scandals of recent years.

Iraq Complies, At Last

$ Three years after a trade embargo began crushing its economy, Iraq quietly agreed to U.N. monitoring of its industrial base to prevent any attempt to reacquire weapons of mass destruction. Baghdad demanded an immediate lifting of sanctions against purchase of Iraqi oil, once its main source of foreign revenue. But Washington, among others, called for further proof of cooperation before allowing such a move.

Serbs Block Aid Convoys

As winter's arrival threatened besieged Bosnian Muslims, Serb fighters temporarily blocked United Nations convoys attempting to deliver aid, then allowed them to proceed. The blockade broke an agreement made a week earlier in Geneva by all three factions fighting in Bosnia -- Croats, Serbs and Bosnians -- to open the country's roads.

Israel and the P.L.O. Today ...

Israeli soldiers wounded 37 Palestinian protesters who were rioting in the Gaza Strip over the killing by Israelis of a leader of the militant Muslim group Hamas. The unrest was the most serious since the signing of the peace accord in Washington in September. On Friday Israeli soldiers killed another militant Palestinian leader. Concerned about security arrangements, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin warned that Israel may not be able to withdraw its troops from Gaza and the West Bank town of Jericho before the Dec. 13 deadline agreed to in September.

... And Yesterday

In 1972 Israel swore it would seek revenge following the massacre of 11 of its athletes by members of the P.L.O. at the Olympic Games in Munich. Last week a former Israeli director of military intelligence official revealed just how effectively that retaliation was carried out, when military censors finally allowed an interview he gave a year ago to be broadcast on national television. The official, Aharon Yariv, said between 10 and 15 Palestinians involved in the Munich attack had been assassinated by Israeli agents.

December Deadline in Algeria

Thousands of foreign residents of Algeria are nervously awaiting a Dec. 1 deadline for their departure from the country. And deadline is the appropriate word: an ultimatum issued by Muslim extremists declares that "anyone staying longer is responsible for his own sudden death."As many as 3,000 people have been killed by government forces and Islamic fundamentalists since January 1992, when the government canceled elections because fundamentalist candidates appeared certain to win.

Infant's Murderers Convicted

A jury in Preston, England, convicted two boys of the abduction and brutal murder near Liverpool last February of a two-year-old, James Bulger. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both just 10 years old at the time of the killing, were sentenced to prison for an indefinite term.

BUSINESS

Airline Strike

Perhaps partly restoring his good image in labor's eyes after the struggle over NAFTA, President Clinton ended a pre-Thanksgiving strike by American Airlines flight attendants when he persuaded management to submit the dispute to binding arbitration -- a victory for the workers, who had had this solution in mind from the beginning.

One Round for QVC

A Delaware judge blocked Paramount Communications' friendly merger with Viacom, saying that the combination was a sale, not a strategic alliance, and that Paramount must therefore give due consideration to the bid of Viacom's rival, the QVC Network.

Philip Morris, NCR Layoffs

Hurt by the steep drop in cigarette prices, Philip Morris Companies announced it will eliminate 14,000 jobs, 8% of its work force, largely through attrition. Faced with similar price wars, AT&T's computer firm, NCR Corp., announced a work-force reduction of 7,500, or 15%.

SCIENCE

The Soul of a New Tomato

In another first for biotechnology, scientists have isolated a disease- resistant gene in one type of tomato, cloned it and inserted it into a variety of tomato that lacks that gene. The cloned gene signals the plant's defense system to ward off an invasion by bacteria that cause a leaf- destroying disease known as speck. Researchers predict that similar advances with other crops will significantly reduce the need for pesticides by the end of the century.

Flawed Nutrition Numbers

U.S. government figures on the level of fat, fiber, vitamins and other nutrients in food are essentially unreliable, says a report from the General Accounting Office. The nutritional information, contained in the government's Handbook 8, is used around the world to determine public policy, perform medical research and plan individual diets. The gao found that the data, many of which come from the food industry, often do not square with numbers from other sources.

THE ARTS & MEDIA

Broadway Arrivals

Works by both the country's most successful veteran playwright and its most idolized newcomer opened on Broadway. Neil Simon returned to the stage with Laughter on the 23rd Floor, a nostalgic comedy based on his days as a writer for Sid Caesar. The other debut, Perestroika, is the second half of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-prizewinning age-of-AIDS epic, Angels in America. Critics were far kinder to Kushner than to Simon.

Television Sex

A Washington federal appeals court struck down new FCC rules that would have restricted the broadcast of indecent TV and radio programs to the hours between midnight and 6 a.m. For now, the fcc will stick to its old policy, which permits racier material to begin four hours earlier, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. The court also rejected indecency rules for cable TV.