NATION

WORLD

Frightening Face-Off (The Koreas)

Washington considers hard-line options as the North balks at inspection of nuclear sites

From Rebels to Rulers (Middle East)

Even if Israeli withdrawal is delayed, the P.L.O. doesn't have much time to turn into a government

Windsor of Discontent (Royalty)

The Princess of Wales blames the press for driving her into seclusion. Is it an act of despair or just more intrigue?

SCIENCE

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Catching a Rogue Gene (Medicine)

Two groups independently isolate the hereditary defect responsible for some forms of colon cancer

SOCIETY

PRESS

Uncandid Canada

Coverage of a murder trial crosses the border but isn't allowed back

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Escobar's Dead End (Drugs)

Police killed Colombia's most notorious drug baron, but the cocaine trade lives

BUSINESS

Who Needs a Boom? (The Economy)

It's not like the 1980s, but a steady surge is finally cutting unemployment and making wallets a bit fatter

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Bette Comes Up Roses (The Arts & Media Television)

Competing with the memory of that other divine, Ethel Merman, la Midler exuberantly revives the musical Gypsy

Bound By Tradition (The Arts & Media Books)

The Year's outstanding books celebrate past glories of art, architecture and craft

Family Feuds (The Arts & Media Theater)

Frank Gilroy revisits his 1964 hit, The Subject Was Roses

Fifty-Foot Feminist (The Arts & Media Television)

A dated, shlocky sci-fi flick gets a first-rate comic revamp for the Susan Faludi age

Heart of Darkness (The Arts & Media Holocaust)

Ghosts in their millions haunt Steven Spielberg's powerful Schindler's List

Honest Abe of Oberammergau (The Arts & Media Theater)

Sam Waterston tries to play dark edges, but Robert Sherwood's once esteemed epic about Lincoln seems mere pageantry today

Sketchy Scam (The Arts & Media Cinema)

John Guare adapts his hit play with mixed results

Songs of an Open Heart (The Arts & Media Music)

Born partly of a breakup, Jackson Browne's album delivers a universal pain

PEOPLE

TO OUR READERS

ESSAY