U.S. COVER

COVER: Sweet Revenge
The First Wives Club is packing in the female audiences, who are cheering its "don't get mad, get even-then get on with it" message. But for many women the revenge fantasies and persistent inequalities in divorce are all too real


The Film: Inspired by women, guided by men

Hollywood: Strong women are back in vogue



ASIA COVER

COVER: Erasing Deng's Legacy
As the 92-year-old leader lies ailing, would-be successors battle over China's future. The man most likely to inherit Deng's mantle, Jiang Zemin, preaches a return to pre-Deng days when ideology counted more than economic progress


Diaoyu Islands: Martyrdom and nationalism



LATIN AMERICA COVER

COVER: Mexico's Black Mood
Besieged by out-of-control drug barons, crooked police, skyrocketing crime, falling living standards and a new rebel outburst, the Mexican people may be ready for a political change. After 67 years, the P.R.I.'s grip on power is loosening


INTERVIEW: President Zedillo discusses his troubled nation


UNITED STATES

CIVIL RIGHTS: Raging in Obscurity
Proposition 209, California's anti-affirmative action ballot initiative, was supposed to be a Clinton-busting hot-button issue. Instead it's a subject non grata. What happened?

WHITE HOUSE: First Lady Under Cover
Hillary Clinton, ever controversial, wages a stealth campaign

GINGRICH PROBE: Bipartisan trouble for the Speaker

THE POLITICAL INTEREST: Great Debate, Part I
Michael Kramer advises Bob Dole to keep it sweet and simple

THE LOOKING GLASS: Great Debate, Part II
Jeff Greenfield poses the questions they should ask but won't

SENATE: Weld vs. Kerry
Massachusetts fields the year's most satisfying horse race

CAMPAIGN '96: Finkelstein Under Fire
Is the G.O.P. guru at odds with followers in the Dole camp?

VIEWPOINT: Hedgehogs and Foxes
Should our leader know one big thing or many little ones?

EDUCATION: The Kiss Heard 'Round the World
A first-grader accused of sexual harassment misses recess

JUSTICE: Polly Klaas' killer commits a final outrage

KENNEDYS: J.F.K. Jr. Ties the Knot
The most top-secret, romantic wedding in memory

KENNEDYS: Lance Morrow on a world not quite post-Kennedy


EUROPE

RUSSIA: Part-Time President?
News that Yeltsin is healthy enough for a heart operation quelled fears of a constitutional crisis. But who will shepherd reforms during his pre-op and post-op absence?

SECOND OPINION: Delaying the surgery may pose risks


ASIA

AFGHANISTAN: Fundamentalist Conquerors
Progressive it is not, but the Taliban, the hard-line Islamic group that has seized power in Kabul, touts itself as a solution to the civil warfare that has raged since the Soviets left

INDIA: Lower-Caste Clout
Parties appealing to class loyalties redraw the political map

VIEW FROM WASHINGTON: Inside Kim's Brain
A fantasy trip through the North Korean leader's head


SOUTH PACIFIC

EUTHANASIA: The Last Right
For Bob Dent, death was a victory. For some, it was a tragedy


BUSINESS

AUTOS: Toyota's Red-White-and-Blue Look
Guess who's become America's fastest-growing carmaker?

TELEPHONY: AT&T's Ringing Headache
After trivestiture, there's more trouble on the line

AIRLINES: The FAA tells Mesa to straighten up and fly right

TECHNOLOGY: CyberCash's Fountain of Quarters
Will microtransactions make Web commerce mainstream?


SOCIETY AND SCIENCE

MUSIC: Picketing the Aisles in Philadelphia
A bitter strike highlights hard times for American orchestras


THE ARTS

TELEVISION: Is Ellen DeGeneres' character going to come out on Ellen? That should be the least of the sitcom's worries

MUSIC: Re-creating '60s pop-and doing it well-on two new movie sound tracks

MUSIC: That Thing You Do! doesn't

CINEMA: Extreme Measures puts Hugh Grant in scrubs

CINEMA: It's another Tarantino knock-off, but Bound isn't half bad

THEATER: Michael Gambon acts up a storm, in vain

THEATER: The bard's works are abridged to 97 frenetic minutes by London's Reduced Shakespeare Company

BOOKS: The unique symbiosis between cities and novels

BOOKS: Naked Sleeper explores the loneliness of safety

BOOKS: Faye Wattleton preaches to the choir

VIDEO: Presidential politics is even sillier in Cartoongate


END PAGES

NOTEBOOK: Table of Contents

CALVIN TRILLIN on Calvin Klein's ads

PEOPLE: Oprah's book club; Diana takes Washington

MILESTONES

TRAVELER'S ADVISORY

ESSAY: Josef Joffe on the first postmodern president


Copyright 1996 Time Inc. All rights reserved.