THE WEEK

By KATHLEEN ADAMS, MICHAEL D. LEMONICK, LINA LOFARO, MICHAEL QUINN, ALAIN L. SANDERS AND SIDNEY URQUHART

NATION

The G.O.P. Loses a Big One

After weeks of debate and a last-minute round of desperate wheeling, dealing and politicking over Social Security--the perennial political hot potato--the Senate failed to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. The Republican leadership came up one vote shy of the two-thirds majority required when they failed to persuade the one Republican holdout, Oregon's Mark Hatfield, or either of North Dakota's two Democratic Senators to switch sides. The Democratic leadership had little time to celebrate its victory, however; the day after the vote, Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a longtime supporter of the amendment, announced he was switching his party affiliation to the G.O.P.

Take That, Bureaucrats

The House approved a far-reaching measure that would reinvent the way the Federal Government regulates. The Republican-sponsored bill would require federal health, safety and environmental agencies to undertake detailed cost-benefit analyses before implementing new rules. The House also approved a second, related bill that would make it easier for landowners to obtain compensation from the government when their property values are diminished by environmental regulations.

Contract Modifications

House Republicans backed off their controversial welfare-reform provision that would have denied cash assistance to children born to unmarried women under 18. But what G.O.P. members proposed instead--a cash bonus to states that manage to reduce out-of-wedlock births as well as abortions-hardly pleased pro-choice Democrats.

A New Whitewater Indictment

Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr obtained an indictment against Neal Ainley, the former president of a rural Arkansas bank that handled campaign funds for Bill Clinton's 1990 gubernatorial race. The federal indictment accuses Ainley of having conspired to violate banking-reporting laws that are aimed at discouraging illegal money laundering--though the motivation for allegedly violating the law in this case was unclear. Ainley flatly denied the charges.

The Gang's All Here

Chicago's mayor Richard Daley may have won a landslide victory in the city's Democratic primary, but what attracted national attention to Tuesday's balloting was the success of Wallace ("Gator") Bradley and Hal Baskin. The two candidates, who won runoff spots for city council elections to be held in April, were backed by the Gangster Disciples, the city's largest street gang.

The Simpson Trial

Jurors spent the week lounging around their hotel-minus one colleague who was dismissed and replaced by an alternate for undisclosed violations-while a key O.J. Simpson alibi witness took the stand out of normal sequence; the testimony of Rosa Lopez, the Salvadoran maid who lived at the estate next to Simpson's, was preserved for the jury on videotape because of fears she might flee the country. Lopez testified she saw the football hero's Ford Bronco parked outside his home at the time he was allegedly committing murder two miles away. But under sharp cross-examination, she testified she couldn't be sure exactly when after 10 o'clock at night she saw the Bronco. In her testimony, riddled with the phrase "I don't remember," Lopez occasionally bristled as prosecutors sought to demonstrate that what she did remember may have been scripted by defense attorneys.

WORLD

Goodbye, Mogadishu!

A two-year multibillion dollar international intervention to rescue Somalia from drought and starvation ended without fanfare last week. Shielded by heavily armed U.S. and Italian marines, the last Pakistani and Bangladeshi peacekeepers embarked for ships anchored offshore as militias controlled by warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid and others took control of Mogadishu's abandoned airport. Overall, more than 100 U.N. peacekeepers and 44 American troops died in the venture once optimistically christened Operation Restore Hope by President George Bush.

Is His Brother a Murderer?

Raul Salinas de Gortari, the older brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, was arrested and charged with masterminding and financing the assassination of a senior official of the country's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party. One day after his brother's arrest, Salinas withdrew his bid to become the next president of the World Trade Organization. The day after that, he began a hunger strike to demand the government clear him of blame for the country's economic woes and of public suspicion that he might have blocked a murder investigation. "It's a question of personal honor," he said in a call to a TV news program. Salinas briefly interrupted his fast, apparently to visit his brother in prison.

Italy: Trouble for a Former PM

Giulio Andreotti, Prime Minister of Italy for seven different governments, will stand trial on charges that he protected the Mafia during his many years in office. He could face a 20-year prison sentence if convicted.

Celebrity Murder in Russia

Russians--from President Boris Yeltsin down to the humblest man in the street--are in shock over the brutal murder of Vladislav Listyev, one of the country's best-known and most loved television personalities. More than 10,000 people lined up to pay their respects at Ostankino, the TV station where Listyev was a top executive. In a practice normally reserved for departed Kremlin leaders, newspapers devoted every inch of their black-bordered front pages to his death. Although motive for the murder remains unclear, authorities alleged it was a Mafia hit and are searching for two suspects.

Winnie's Troubles

Winnie Mandela's government post as Deputy Minister of Culture, Science and Technology may be in jeopardy. Cutting short a trip to West Africa, the controversial wife of South African President Nelson Mandela returned to a police raid on her home and an investigation into her possible involvement in fraud, bribery and corruption. Furiously fighting back, Mrs. Mandela scheduled a court hearing on March 14, challenging the seizure of documents from her home.

BUSINESS

The Collapse of Barings Bank

The flight of Nicholas Leeson might have provided a juicy plot for Maugham or Le Carra. The young high flier's dizzying speculations on Singapore's International Monetary Exchange roiled international currency markets as well as the Tokyo stock market, and mortally wounded Barings bank, one of Britain's most venerable financial institutions, which was unable to cover losses of more than $1 billion. As the extent of the damage became apparent, Leeson, 28, and his wife Lisa Sims, 23, fled their apartment in Singapore and spent a week on the lam. Detained last Wednesday as he arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, he said they were only trying to return home. A German magistrate is considering Singapore's extradition request. Auditors had warned Barings executives last August that Leeson was operating independently of any controls.

Trade War Averted

It is the most comprehensive copyright-enforcement agreement ever negotiated by the U. S. with another country. Just 12 days after U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor threatened trade sanctions on more than $1 billion in Chinese goods, the U.S. and China signed an accord to end the piracy of American-made movies, compact discs and computer software. "It is a win-win agreement," said deputy trade representative Charlene Barshefsky.

SCIENCE

It's the Top

Scientists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, near Chicago, have finally found the physical evidence of a subatomic particle that has eluded physicists for more than a decade. It's the top quark, the heaviest of the six quarks that serve as the basic building blocks of matter and the last to be discovered; there were hints of a sighting last spring, but it took nearly a year for physicists to be sure.

THe ARTS & MEDIA

Grammy Winners

Two veterans and a talented young Californian took top honors at the 37th annual Grammy Awards. Tony Bennett, who won his first Grammy 33 years ago for I Left My Heart in San Francisco, won Best Album with MTV Unplugged. Bruce Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia was named Best Song. And Sheryl Crow is the year's Best New Artist.

--By Kathleen Adams, Michael D. Lemonick, Lina Lofaro, Michael Quinn, Alain L. Sanders and Sidney Urquhart