NATION
G-7 Summit
At the Tokyo meeting of the leaders of the seven major industrial democracies, Bill Clinton acted the parts of statesman and campaigner in equal measure. While the Japanese indulged a fascination with his wife Hillary, Clinton courted a younger generation of Japanese politicians. In public appearances he urged the Japanese to open their markets -- a tactic that helped him cast the summit for his public back home as one more part of his jobs program. The meeting started on a promising and surprising note: an agreement in principle by trade ministers to cut anti-import tariffs on hundreds of items (although not the most contentious ones), which could lead to a resumption of the stalled GATT world trade talks. By the end of the week, other substantive achievements were announced: a $3 billion aid plan for Russia and a "framework" agreement that will guide future negotiations to reduce Japan's trade surplus with the U.S.
Perot and the "Radical Middle"
A national survey by President Clinton's pollster found that three-quarters of those who voted for Ross Perot would vote for him if he ran in 1996. The poll described this group as a "radical middle" that Clinton must win over to be re-elected.
Water, Water, Still Everywhere
Floodwaters kept rising to never-before-recorded levels along the upper Mississippi River. While estimates of crop damage exceeded $1 billion, more than 4,500 families also face property damage.
The Biggest Jackpot
There was a small-town winner for the very big, $111 million prize in the Powerball lottery held by 14 states and the District of Columbia. Less than four hours before the drawing, Leslie C. Robins, a 30-year-old English teacher, bought the winning ticket for his fiance at a grocery store in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. After learning that they had beaten odds of 55 million to 1, the couple fled to Florida to escape the media.
Acquittal in Idaho
White separatist Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris, a family friend, were acquitted in the 1992 slaying of a U.S. marshal. The marshal was killed in a gunfight after federal agents converged on Weaver's remote cabin to arrest him for failing to appear in court on a weapons charge. Weaver's 14-year-old-son also died in the shoot-out. The shoot-out was followed by an 11-day siege in which Weaver's wife was killed by a federal sniper.
More Jail Time for Keating
Charles Keating Jr., whose greed and recklessness made him an apt symbol of the savings and loan calamity, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison for draining the Irvine, California-based Lincoln Savings, a swindle that cost taxpayers $2.6 billion. The sentence will run concurrently with a 10-year state prison sentence that Keating, 69, is serving.
A Third-Rate Burglary?
They didn't actually use the word Watergate, but Democratic Party officials told Chicago police that thieves stole computer disks, research notebooks and strategy documents from a suite they had been using as a temporary headquarters at the Stouffer's Riviere in Chicago, where the Republican National Committee was meeting one floor below.
WORLD
Trying to Expel the Sheik