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In Case You Missed It...
by Jeff Koopersmith
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March 24, 1997 -- NEW YORK (APJP) -- A few stories to keep an eye on this week:
President Clinton joined Boris Yeltsin in Helsinki in what White House aides called the Summit of the Invalids -- The big issue? NATO expansion to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic... but not to Russia. Yeltsin seemed to give retreat from hissing charges he made earlier in the week in exchange for finance and other goodies.
Hamas took credit for a suicide bomb that killed 4 in Tel Aviv; 7 girls, killed by a Jordanian soldier, were mourned by Jordan's King Hussein -- he went to the parents and knelt before them begging for forgiveness.
The House of Representatives passed the partial birth abortion bill 295-136. The President is expected to veto it. The surprise was that only 5 House members switched their votes to "Yea" after the fuss over a pro-choice doctors admission that he lied about how often and when the procedure is used.
The Riadys (friends of the Clintons) paid Webster Hubbell about $100,000 a few days after visiting the White House and Fed bank regulators are about to hit the Riady's LippoBank with a cease and desist order against loan practices weakening the bank -- that's 3 times in seven years; Dick Gephardt returned $22,000 in campaign donations mostly from Lippo-related donors.
In a defeat for Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, the Senate voted to expand its campaign finance investigations to include illegal and improper contributors which may focus more attention on Republicans.
The World Health Organization unveils a new method to fight TB called DOTS -- the biggest health breakthrough of this decade.
If you haven't seen the new exhibit of paintings by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, one of them stained with his own blood, don't. They are revolting and poorly executed to boot.
News organizations reporting that Oklahoma City bombing indictee Timothy McVeigh confessed now include the Dallas Morning News, Playboy, and Newsweek.
President Mobutu Seko's government is about to collapse in Zaire; the president, of course, has been hiding out in his palatial home on the French Riviera to avoid decapitation or worse.
Britain will hold elections May 1st and Prime Minister John Major is almost sure to be retired. The opposition Labor Party leads in the polls 2 to 1.
In Pakistan, a woman won an earth-shattering court victory allowing her to marry a man she loves rather than a man selected for her by her family under Islamic law. Her father appealed to the Pakistani Supreme Court.
Newt Gingrich is hanging on to the House Speakership by his fingernails, according to reports leaked by some staffers, as he is alienating conservatives by backing away from promised income tax cuts and looking more liberal every day.
Copyright © 2001, 1997, 1996, American Politics Journal Publications, Inc. 
