NATION

Scandal: Too Many Questions

But few answers about a shameless attempt to buy favor with the White House and the Justice Department's reluctance to investigate B.C.C.I.

WORLD

How to Follow the Talks

Is your mind reeling from all the claims and counterclaims? What's really going on in the peace process? Here's a guide to help sort it out.

Nato Au Revoir, U.S.?

Europe weighs new military formations, raising questions about the future of the Atlantic partnership

SCIENCE

Machines From The Lunatic Fringe

A trillion calculations a second? In a quantum leap for supercomputers, a radical new design opens exciting vistas for science and industry

The Big Blowup -- on Venus (Space)

New images from the Magellan probe suggest that the planet orbiting closest to Earth is alive with volcanoes

SOCIETY

Forget Verdi, Try Carmen (Living)

A software program has blossomed into a multimedia success that kids love -- and that makes them love to learn

TECHNOLOGY

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

BUSINESS

Any Bright Ideas Out There?

As it turns out, there are a lot of good ones, though the right way to lift the country out of its year-long slump is still anybody's guess

EDUCATION

Are Black Colleges Worth Saving?

The Supreme Court will consider whether the states should pay publicly funded institutions for the neglect caused by decades of discrimination

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Oh, The Agony! The Ratings! (Television)

The networks court women viewers with a parade of heroines who are betrayed, battered and bewildered

The Empire Strikes Black (Music)

With a hot new album, the rap group Public Enemy raises its message of social outrage to a blistering pitch

When Britannia Ruled (Books)

Vividly but lengthily, historian Robert Massie retells the story of a massive arms race that led to war

MISCELLANY

PEOPLE

TO OUR READERS

ESSAY