COVER

NATION

WORLD

Changing the Guard (Middle East)

Israel completes its pullback from Jericho and the Gaza Strip, but not without glitches and gunfire

Pushing It to the Limit (North Korea)

Pyongyang plays games on nuclear inspection and heads closer to diplomatic meltdown with Washington

Twisting Off the Hook (Diplomacy)

Clinton seems headed for one of those compromises with China that have little effect but annoy everybody

SCIENCE

Hula Hoops in Space

The sharp-eyed Hubble telescope spots a strange phenomenon that may help explain how stars die

HEALTH & MEDICINE

The Clinton Reducing Plan (Health Care)

Unless he trims its goals, the President's proposal may stall in Congress because of a battle over who pays the tab

TECHNOLOGY

Fried Gene Tomatoes

After years of promises and protests, the era of genetically engineered food has finally begun

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

BUSINESS

Will Teens Buy It?

Coke's new OK soda uses irony and understatement to woo a skeptical market

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

BOOKS: Literary Platypus V.S. (Arts & Media / BOOKS)

Naipaul's A Way in the World is an odd -- and unsuccessful -- hybrid of fiction, autobiography and history

CINEMA: Made-From-Tv Movies (Arts & Media / CINEMA)

From Maverick and The Flintstones to Gomer Pyle and Mission: Impossible, rerun mania grips Hollywood

MUSIC: The Band That Wouldn't Die (Arts & Media / MUSIC)

Twenty years after its classic album and a decade since its leader left, Pink Floyd has a hit new record. It's terrible.

BOOKS: Wasp Sex '73 (Arts & Media / BOOKS)

A novel describes Cheeverland in the era of Naugahyde

TO OUR READERS

ESSAY