Big Bad Bertha

Two days after bashing the Bahamas, Hurricane Bertha moved up the U.S. coastline, forcing mandatory evacuation of coastal areas from Florida to Virginia. Hotels and resort areas normally bustling with summertime vacationers shut down. Bertha left four dead in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. At one point, the storm winds were clocked at 115 miles per hour.

Where there's smoke

One day before the Food and Drug Administration approved for over-the-counter sale the first nicotine patch (available July 18, according to the manufacturer) to help smokers kick the habit, Bob Dole showed once again he cannot shake the nicotine monkey off his back. On a July 2 appearance on NBC's Today, Mr. Dole repeated a statement-first uttered June 14 in tobacco country, Kentucky-doubting that cigarettes are addictive. He snapped at host Katie Couric for questioning him on the assertion, suggesting she may be in violation of federal election law "by always sticking up for the Democrats." Democrats ripped Mr. Dole for always sticking up for the tobacco industry, which has contributed $200,000 to Mr. Dole's campaigns since 1979.

Delta accident

A mother and her son were killed in a freak airline accident July 6 when an engine fan hub on a Delta MD-88 jet broke in two as the plane was beginning its takeoff from the Pensacola (Fla.) Regional Airport. Flying metal fragments gouged a 4-foot-long hole in the cabin, instantly killing the two. n Militia bust: Twelve members of the "Viper Militia" were arrested July 1 in Phoenix and charged with conspiracy to manufacture and possess unregistered explosive devices. Attorney General Janet Reno alleged that the suspects planed to blow up the Phoenix offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Internal Revenue Service, and Immigration and Naturalization Service-but no such charges were filed. Among the weapons seized: grenades, gas masks, body armor, and 400 pounds of ammonium nitrate, one of the ingredients used in the bomb that destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City.

Slippery slope

The governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved a policy July 5 allowing the ordination of homosexuals-but only if they remain celibate and disavow their past sexuality. Unmarried heterosexuals who are ordained will be held to a vow of celibacy, too. Also at the denomination's 208th General Assembly: The Rev. John Buchanan of Chicago-who said he does not object to the ordination of homosexuals-was elected to a one-year term as moderator.

Total depravity

A man claiming to have heard a message from God went berserk in a Japanese railway station July 6 and stabbed 13 people before being arrested. A woman and three men were seriously injured. Two days later, a man with a machete burst into a nursery-school tea party in Wolerhampton, England, and hacked away. Three children and four adults were injured. The attacker, who reportedly laughed during the incident, got away.

There's fire

The former vice chairman of Dole for President's national finance committee agreed July 11 to pay a record $6 million fine for unlawfully funneling campaign contributions to Mr. Dole. The Dole campaign was charged with no wrongdoing, and cooperated in the investigation. Businessman Simon C. Fireman admitted in a plea agreement that he illegally funneled $120,000 in corporate money through his employees to Mr. Dole and other political candidates. Mr. Fireman, who had publicly expressed interest in securing an ambassadorial post in a Dole administration, resigned from the presidential campaign's finance committee after newspaper reports quoted Fireman employees who said they were given $1,000 (the legal maximum federal campaign contribution) to give to Mr. Dole. Mr. Fireman may also face six months in prison. n Crash and burn: Bill Clinton's Fourth of July photo opportunity had the president helping to return to the wild a convalescent eagle, which moments later and well after the cameras were safely put away was attacked and knocked out of the sky by four ospreys. The female eagle suffered a slightly fractured wing and was fished out of a nearby river. The photo ops were no better for Bob Dole, who on July 8 received only a lukewarm endorsement from Colin Powell; the retired general said he would vote Republican but rebuffed overtures to campaign for Mr. Dole. "I don't plan to go out on the campaign or fundraising trail," Mr. Powell told an interviewer during an appearance promoting the sale of his memoirs in paperback. "I am practicing my own politics privately." The Libertarian Party picked its nominee for president, investment writer Harry Browne, at its convention July 6. On July 9, former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm announced he will seek the presidential nomination of Ross Perot's Reform Party. Mr. Lamm is a political pioneer for abortion and euthanasia: Six years before Roe v. Wade as a first-term state legislator, he wrote the 1967 state law permitting abortion in several circumstances; in 1984, he announced that ill elderly citizens have a "duty to die." One day after the Lamm announcement, Mr. Perot took to his natural habitat, CNN's Larry King Live, to announce he will contest the race. Reform Party ballots contain only the two men's names, but write-ins are allowed. Party members will cast their ballots by mail. On Aug. 11, when results are announced, candidates with 10 percent support or better have the right to contest the nomination; after more mail and e-mail balloting, a winner will be selected about a week later.

A matter of life and death

Washington state July 3 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a landmark ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the terminally ill have a right to a doctor's help in committing suicide (see WORLD, March 23). A decision by the high court on whether to hear the case should come when the court reconvenes in October. Suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian is not waiting: After two more in his six-year string of serial suicides, the death toll rose to 33.

Quitting while they're behind

A public school district in Mississippi, which waged a two-year legal battle over the right to have student-led prayers heard over the school intercom system, has given up the fight. The Pontotoc, Miss., school board voted unanimously July 3 not to appeal last month's ruling by a federal judge which said using the intercom system for such purposes was unconstitutional. The legal battle cost the school system $700,000.

Can't shoot straight

Bob Dole gave NRA members July 9 a reason to change their name to Not Republican Anymore. In a speech to the Virginia State Police Training Academy, Mr. Dole backed away from his stated commitment to repeal President Clinton's ban on certain "assault weapons." Although aides primed reporters covering the speech to expect a clear break from the NRA, which opposed the assault-weapon legislation, Mr. Dole dithered. Modified versions of banned guns, he said, make the ban irrelevant and obsolete; he added, "We've moved beyond the debate over banning assault weapons." Tanya Metaska, a lobbyist for the NRA, said she "didn't hear" the promised clear break. Dole aide Nelson Warfield turned up the volume: Repeal of the assault-weapon ban "would not be on his agenda [as president]." The next day, President Clinton amplified it. Speaking July 10 at the NAACP convention (which Mr. Dole declined the previous day to address), Mr. Clinton declared, "I will say one thing that [Mr. Dole] has not said, and probably will not and cannot say: I will veto any attempt to repeal the assault weapons ban or the Brady bill."

Religious strife

The worst Northern Ireland riots in a decade hampered new multi-party peace talks on ending years of Catholic-Protestant strife in the British province. The long-standing dispute in Northern Ireland is more about nationalism than about religion. Protestant "loyalists" in Northern Ireland want to remain part of Britain. Many Catholics want the province to become part of Ireland. Religion is an issue in Kuwait, where a Shiite religious court ruled that a once-affluent Muslim businessman who converted to Christianity is an apostate. The court did not impose a penalty, but Robert Hussein claimed that Muslims would interpret the ruling as permission to kill him. He has appealed the ruling, and a hearing is set for September. Friends of the captive Christian are maintaining a site on the World Wide Web with the latest news: http://www. domini.org/ hussein/home.htm

Whitewater II

After 11 days and 20 witnesses, prosecutors in the second Little Rock Whitewater trial rested their case July 9. Arkansas bankers Herby Branscum and Robert Hill are accused of illegally funneling campaign money to then-Gov. Clinton in exchange for influential state jobs. Some of the most damaging testimony came from the outside auditor for Mr. Branscum and Mr. Hill's bank, Carlton Kent Dollar, who attended the 1990 meeting with Mr. Clinton and Mr. Hill in which the cash-for-jobs deal allegedly was made. Mr. Clinton, according to the testimony, thumbed through the contribution checks "meticulously" and asked: "Do you think Herby Branscum would make a good highway commissioner?" On July 7, Mr. Clinton gave 2 hours and 20 minutes of videotaped testimony from the White House on behalf of the defendants; it is expected to be played in court the week of July 14.

In brief

On Capitol Hill, the Senate voted July 10 to make it illegal for private businesses to pay employees less than $5.15 per hour. In the courts, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the line-item veto was tossed out July 3 by a federal judge who said the federal employees union lacked standing to bring the suit; the Supreme Court ended its term July 1 by denying a Texas appeal of a federal appellate court ruling that blocked the use of racial admissions policies at state universities; the Justice Department July 1 asked the high court to consider a district court's ruling blocking the Communications Decency Act from taking effect. Meanwhile, Mexican police broke up a child pornography ring and arrested two American citizens, according to Reuters. Police said some of the child porn was being distributed on the Internet, with an address book containing the names and addresses of 4,600 clients in the United States.

On the defensive

Defense Secretary William Perry, in the wake of last month's bombing that killed 19 American airmen in Saudi Arabia, said U.S. military commanders had underestimated the terrorist threat in the region. Appearing July 9 before the Senate Armed Services committee, Mr. Perry conceded that "our local commanders ...had not completed some of the [security] measures that were prescribed."

"Rock solid"

Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off his first United States tour as Israeli prime minister July 9 with a meeting at the White House with President Clinton. At a joint news conference after their talks, both leaders expressed their differences-Mr. Netanyahu is pursuing a harder line against the Palestinians and Arab-world foes; Mr. Clinton puts more trust in the peace process-but both pronounced the U.S.-Israel relationship "rock solid." The Israeli leader got a warmer reception July 10 in a joint meeting of Congress; a five-minute standing ovation preceeded his address. "If I could only get the Knesset to vote like this," Mr. Netanyahu quipped, referring to the often-contentious Israeli parliament. Mr. Netanyahu said Middle East peace will be impossible unless it guarantees security for all; he called on Palestinian leaders and Syria to end terror attacks by Muslim fundamentalists. But he offered no quarter on dividing Jerusalem with the Palestinians. Mr. Netanyahu traveled July 11 to New York for a meeting with presidential candidate Bob Dole. Mr. Netanyahu also visited the New York Stock Exchange and pitched business leaders on the benefits of Israeli investment.