THE WEEK: MAY 7-13

NATION

A BALANCED-BUDGET BLUEPRINT

After months of talking about it, Republicans finally announced a plan of bold spending cuts designed to balance the budget by 2002. Senate leaders proposed slashing nearly $1 trillion during the next seven years. A House plan foresaw even deeper cuts: $1.4 trillion worth, the extra trims needed to offset a $350 billion tax cut. The G.O.P. lawmakers said they would chop billions from projected outlays for Medicare and Medicaid, eliminate scores of federal social programs and abolish the Commerce Department. (House Republicans would also ax the Education and Energy departments.) Democrats promptly labeled the proposals unfair to working families, the elderly and the poor, and warned that the cuts were dangerous for the economy.

A SECOND SUSPECT

Terry Nichols, initially detained in Kansas as a material witness to the Oklahoma City bombing, formally became a suspect as federal prosecutors accused him of participating in the April 19 attack; the charges could bring him the death penalty if he is convicted. Nichols was transferred to the same Oklahoma federal prison that holds the other suspect in the case, Timothy McVeigh, an old Army buddy with whom Nichols apparently shared a strong dislike of the government. Meanwhile, federal agents in Arizona arrested Steven Colbern, a biochemist, on unrelated weapons charges. He was picked up after investigators received a tip that Colbern owns a brown pickup truck similar to one a witness claims to have seen escorting McVeigh prior to his arrest.

LEGAL REFORM SCALED BACK

Filibustering Democrats held their ground in the Senate and stymied majority leader Bob Dole's efforts to approve a sweeping legal-reform bill, which, like a House-passed version, would have capped punitive damages in all civil lawsuits. By a 61-to-37 vote, the Senate accepted a severely trimmed-back proposal limiting punitive damages only in product-liability cases-leaving the two chambers far apart as they prepare to reconcile their bills.

DEUTCH TAKES OVER THE CIA

By a vote of 98 to 0, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch to become the new director of the C.I.A. Deutch will arrive at the troubled spy agency, which has been demoralized by the Aldrich Ames and other scandals, with a mandate to review priorities, revamp operations and replace top personnel.

U.S. TURNS BACK 24 CUBANS

A week after announcing a new policy of forcible return of Cuban boat refugees, the Clinton Administration, true to its word, repatriated 24 Cubans who had been rescued at sea.

THE SIMPSON TRIAL

Nearly four months after the opening of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the prosecution introduced its most damning evidence: the apparently incriminating results of DNA blood tests. Forensic scientist Robin Cotton testified that a blood drop found at the crime scene matched Simpson's -- with a 1-in-170 million chance it could have been someone else's-and that blood found on a sock at Simpson's estate matched his slain ex-wife's, with an even smaller margin of error. On cross-examination, the defense repeated its dual themes that the blood sent to Cotton's lab may have been contaminated or planted to frame Simpson.

WORLD

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