THE WEEK

NATION

OKLAHOMA SUSPECTS INDICTED

Four months after the nation's deadliest terrorist attack, a federal grand jury indicted the two prime suspects in the Oklahoma City case, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, on bombing and murder charges that could bring the death penalty to both. The indictment identified McVeigh as the driver who detonated the truck bomb. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Michael Fortier, a close Army buddy of McVeigh's, pleaded guilty to lesser charges, including lying and failing to notify authorities about the crime. He is expected to become the government's star witness.

DECLARING WAR ON TOBACCO

President Clinton launched a dramatic new assault against the sale of tobacco to children. The President approved a groundbreaking decision by the Food and Drug Administration that classifies cigarettes as a type of "medical device" capable of delivering an addictive drug--nicotine. The decision triggers FDA regulation, and will be used to impose anti-tobacco rules to protect children. Among them: a strict prohibition of sales to minors, a ban on cigarette-vending machines and stringent curbs on ads aimed at youngsters. The tobacco industry immediately filed suit to stop the measures.

VETO NO. 2

As he promised, President Clinton vetoed legislation that would have unilaterally ended American participation in the U.N. arms embargo against Bosnia. The President expects to use the congressional summer recess to wheedle enough members to change their votes and sustain his veto.

TIME-OUT FOR WELFARE REFORM

Faced with stiff opposition from both the right and the left, Senate majority leader Bob Dole reluctantly put off action on the G.O.P. leadership's much touted welfare-reform plan (which has already passed the House). Conservative Republicans, including rival presidential aspirant Phil Gramm, are demanding tougher provisions penalizing unwed mothers, especially those who are teenagers. Democrats are insisting on more generous job-training and child-care provisions.

MORE WHITEWATER

There were dueling Whitewater hearings on Capitol Hill. Federal bank investigator L. Jean Lewis told a House panel that government higher-ups engaged in a "concerted effort to obstruct, hamper and manipulate" her investigation of alleged wrongdoing at the S&L that is at the heart of the Whitewater case. At the Senate hearings, former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum adamantly told skeptical Senators that his controversial search of the late Vincent Foster's files was but one of the many "right calls" he made to protect legitimate confidences and was not a Whitewater cover-up.

PACKWOOD: MINOR DETAILS

The sexual-misconduct case against Senate Finance Committee chairman Bob Packwood became even graver when reports surfaced that one of two recent complaints accused him of kissing a minor in 1983, a 17-year-old who worked in his office. Packwood said he took "strong exception" to the new accusation.

REYNOLDS' ACCUSER TESTIFIES