COVER

NATION

It's A Jungle Out There (Whitewater)

The Administration is in retreat, embarrassed by disclosures, unable to head off congressional probes

WORLD

Back to The Bad Old Days (Somalia)

As weary U.S. troops depart, they leave behind a country in no better shape than when they arrived

Hebron's Ugly Truths (Middle East)

Hints of a second shooter and revelations of official laxity raise the specter of high-level resignations

The Irish Puzzle (Northern Ireland)

Gerry Adams talks peace, but does Sinn Fein's silver tongue really mean it?

Trouble in The East (Asia)

In exclusive interviews, leaders in South Korea and China talk about fears of North Korea's nuclear aspirations and problems with the U.S.

SCIENCE

The Mummy's Tale

A woman's remains prove that tuberculosis existed in the New World before Columbus crossed the sea

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Reliving Polio (Health)

Forty years after the great postwar epidemic, the disease is coming back to haunt its survivors

SPORT

Springtime for Tonya

A whack ends with a whimper as the skater plea-bargains her way out of a potential trial

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

BUSINESS

EDUCATION

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PHOTOGRAPHY: Bleak Chic (The Arts & Media / PHOTOGRAPHY)

A Richard Avedon retrospective poses the question: genius or just slick?

MUSIC: Rap's Teen Idols Return (The Arts & Media / MUSIC)

Multiplatinum has-beens Hammer and Vanilla Ice remake their rapper images, but their new albums still fail to satisfy

BOOKS: Self-Love in a Cold Climate (The Arts & Media / BOOKS)

The latest installment of a historical cycle is crippled by author William T. Vollmann's fascination with one character: himself

BOOKS: The Destruction of Old Mexico (The Arts & Media / BOOKS)

A historian offers a tentative but richly detailed narrative of how Spanish warriors conquered Montezuma's Indian empire

TO OUR READERS

ESSAY