The Week April 17 -23

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The Senate voted 54 to 43 to allow Admiral Frank Kelso, the Chief of Naval Operations, to retire with his four stars and full pension. But what was expected to be a low-key event turned into a bruising battle after the Senate's seven women -- Democratic and Republican alike -- united to target Kelso for his disputed role in the Tailhook sex scandal.

Kevorkian's Stealth Defense

In the first Michigan prosecution to come to trial charging Dr. Jack Kevorkian with assisting a suicide, his lawyer opened the case by claiming the death occurred in a neighboring county -- not the one where he is being tried -- and planned to ask for a dismissal.

WORLD

Gorazde's Ongoing Agony

Terrified Muslim residents of the eastern Bosnian city of Gorazde, declared a "safe area" by the United Nations last May, huddled under nearly continuous attack by Bosnian Serb forces for the third straight week. At week's end NATO allies issued a strongly worded new ultimatum to Serb gunners, giving them until 2:01 a.m. local time Sunday to withdraw their forces 1.9 miles from the town center and allow U.N. peacekeepers into the besieged city. The threatened big stick: allied bombing on a far greater scale than before.

Buthelezi Drops Boycott

Zulu nationalist leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi canceled his boycott of South Africa's first all-race elections this week. In return, Buthelezi secured a guarantee that the largely ceremonial Zulu monarchy will be allowed to continue and that remaining constitutional differences on the powers of regions will be mediated internationally after the elections. Hopes for a peaceful ballot dimmed over the weekend when two African National Congress workers were killed and party headquarters in Johannesburg were devastated by a bomb.

Killing in Rwanda

In the capital Kigali, the Rwandan army shelled the national sports stadium, where more than 5,000 refugees from the country's civil war had sought sanctuary. Forty people were killed by the bombardment, and hundreds were wounded. In the past two weeks, as many as 100,000 people have been killed in the fighting, aid groups estimate. The U.N. decided to evacuate nearly all its 1,700-member peacekeeping contingent in the face of the continuing slaughter; some Belgian peacekeepers burned their blue U.N. berets in frustration before boarding their flights. On Saturday, rebels were said to have announced a conditional cease-fire to start midnight Monday.

Aristide: U.S. Policy Is Racist

Haiti's exiled President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, denounced President Clinton's policy of forcibly turning back Haitian refugees as "a racist policy." Shortly after Aristide's remarks, U.S. officials announced that they would ask the U.N. to impose a complete economic embargo on Haiti in an effort to restore Aristide to the presidency.The Administration permitted 406 Haitians to come ashore in Florida, but officials termed the landing an ( emergency rescue.

Rabin Says Golan Negotiable