Flight 587: Video May Hold The Key
Frustrated investigators looking into the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 have an important new piece of evidence. Government sources tell TIME that analysts at the National Transportation Safety Board last week got their first look at a remarkable videotape of the deadly accident. Recorded by a surveillance camera at a New York City area tollbooth, the tape captures nearly the entire catastrophe that sent the Airbus A300 crashing into a residential neighborhood in Queens less than 3 min. after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on Nov. 12. According to an NTSB source, the plane can be seen "flying along normally and intact, and suddenly things start to go very wrong." The video records the plane as it begins its descent. The crash is obscured, but the tape continues to run and smoke can be seen rising from the scene. Experts at the NTSB are optimistic that the tape will help answer critical questions about the precise sequence of events as the plane began to break apart, and exactly how and when the tail section separated from the body of the plane. This is the second video record the board has obtained of the crash, but the first one was virtually useless because the plane could be seen only as a tiny speck. BY SALLY B. DONNELLY

Peace Still Eludes The Bush Team
Shaping a coherent Middle East policy is tough enough for any Administration, but it is even harder for the Bush team because of a deepening division between hard-liners and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Days after Powell left for Afghanistan in early January, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld teamed up to try to shut down the mission of Powell's Middle East envoy General Anthony Zinni and cut off ties with Yasser Arafat. In a meeting attended by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Powell's deputy, Richard Armitage, the two hawks argued that after the seizure of an arms-laden boat headed from Iran to the Palestinian Authority, all ties to Arafat should be cut. "[Cheney and Rumsfeld] made a run, but it didn't work," says a senior Administration official. The move worsened the rift between Powell and Cheney and necessitated a closed-door meeting between the national security team and President Bush last Friday. In the end, the Administration split the difference: telephone contacts with Arafat can continue, but Zinni will not return to the region for further talks until Arafat cracks down completely on terrorism and arrests those responsible for the arms delivery. Later that day, Bush blamed Arafat for "enhancing terror." State officials claim they haven't lost any ground, but Cheney and Rumsfeld appear to be slowly dragging Powell away from meaningful engagement in the Middle East. BY MASSIMO CALABRESI

Eve Ensler
Eve Ensler's play Necessary Targets, about the rape of Bosnian women, will open in New York City on Feb. 28. Her Vagina Monologues will again be the centerpiece of Valentine's Day fund raising around the world to end violence against women.

Q: Do you ever want simply to spend a nice, quiet Valentine's Day alone?

A: It's funny, I went away on vacation for a week over the holidays. It just wasn't the time in my life for it. There is such momentum in this movement right now.

Q: Because of Afghanistan?

A: I think it's a big part of it. You cannot desecrate the female population of a country and not think it's going to happen to everyone eventually.

Q: You visited Afghanistan a year ago. Was it as bad for women as we have heard?

A: Absolutely. If you want to see what misogyny looks like when it's fully realized, it's hell. It's stunning. And stunning that we allowed it.

Q: You helped organize a conference for 40 Afghan women in Brussels. What did you learn?

A: I think the women of Afghanistan absolutely know what the future of that country should be. The idea that somehow we are shoving Western feminism on Afghan women--I cannot tell you how angry it makes me. I was struck by how much clarity the women have, because they've thought about it for so long. They've kept the country alive; let's face it. Why don't we ever recognize that? BY EVE ENSLER; ELIZABETH L. BLAND, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, VICTORIA

Those Patriotic Ads: Thrown For A Loss
Don't expect to see Budweiser's "Whassup" guys belting out America the Beautiful, or the Coca-Cola polar bears waving Old Glory when the first commercial break in Super Bowl XXXVI kicks off Sunday. Although the war on terror continues, advertising agencies preparing spots for what is historically a day to showcase their best work say they will steer well clear of overt patriotic messages. Sensitive to charges that some ads appearing in the months after Sept. 11 crossed the line of good taste (and didn't help their clients either), agencies plan to fill the 30-sec. spots, which cost about $2 million apiece, with safer, funnier fare. "Anything that refers to Sept. 11 is dangerous," says Robert Scarpelli, chief creative officer at DDB Chicago, whose clients include Anheuser-Busch and McDonald's. "When people think you're using patriotism to sell products, they'll turn you off in a second." In focus groups of consumers conducted by marketers last fall, carmakers drew criticism for draping their 0%-financing deals in the American flag--General Motors entreated car buyers to "Keep America Rolling," while Ford called on the viewing public to "Help Move America Forward." Airline ads that equated flying with patriotism also made some viewers wince. Companies from Miller Brewing to the Vitamin Shoppe all weighed in on the tragedy in somber ads, prompting the satirical newspaper The Onion to mock marketers' sudden interest in current events with its headline "Dinty Moore Breaks Long Silence on Terrorism with Full-Page Ad."

Most advertisers have already scaled back the heavy-handed flag waving of those first few months. And the party atmosphere of the Super Bowl seems to many a good time to return to pure entertainment. But the patriotic pitch may be hard to rein in for long; the Winter Olympics begin on NBC just five days later.

And The Winners Are...Endless
It took a while, but people are catching on to the secret of the Academy Awards: for three hours every star in Hollywood works for free. These days they're working overtime. The B-list Golden Globes now get breathless TV coverage to rival the Oscars, and even the Broadcast Film Critics Association has landed a seven-year cable deal for its Critics' Choice awards. Still to come: the Screen Actors Guild Awards (March 10) and the Independent Spirit Awards (March 23). How do the Oscar folks feel about all this? Asked about the latest entry in the awards parade--those bestowed by the American Film Institute--Bruce Davis, director of the Motion Picture Academy, noted dryly, "There have been three-day stretches in January when no one hosted a movie-awards show, and I think this fills that gap nicely."

AWARDS
American Film Institute
Jan. 5

BUZZ FACTOR
Though it snagged a prime-time spot on CBS, the show was scheduled so soon after the holidays that even many of the winners didn't attend.

OSCAR PREDICTOR
Sissy Spacek won for female actor of the year, launching a streak of wins that makes her the Oscar front runner.

SURPRISES
Peter Jackson's fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring nabbed the top prize, beating the favored A Beautiful Mind.

AUSSIE WATCH
Newcomer Naomi Watts was nominated for her lead role in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive.

AWARDS
People's Choice Jan. 13

BUZZ FACTOR
Little more than a photo op and a chance for Hollywood's elite to thank "the people" while trying not to sound patronizing.

OSCAR PREDICTOR
Please. After Shrek, named Favorite Film of the year, the finalists were Pearl Harbor and The Fast and the Furious.

SURPRISES
Julia Roberts actually showed up to collect her eighth crystal trophy for Favorite Actress.

AUSSIE WATCH
Old reliable Mel Gibson snagged a nomination for Favorite Actor without even releasing a movie last year.

AWARDS
Critics' Choice Jan. 14

BUZZ FACTOR
Given by 169 U.S. and Canadian film critics and telecast for the second time this year. The stars came out in force--why should the foreign press have all the fun?

OSCAR PREDICTOR
Ben Kingsley won the Supporting Actor prize for his demonic gangster in Sexy Beast, giving him a boost for an Oscar nod.

SURPRISES
The dream-world-gone-wrong of Mulholland Drive was a critics' darling but was shut out on these critics' ballots.

AUSSIE WATCH
Baz Luhrmann tied for the director's prize with the lavish Moulin Rouge.

AWARDS
Golden Globes Jan. 20

BUZZ FACTOR
Judged by just 87 foreign journalists, the Globes have soared in clout. The Today show even sent Katie Couric to the after parties.

OSCAR PREDICTOR
A Beautiful Mind dominated the top categories. Russell Crowe rehearsed his new "gracious winner" persona.

SURPRISES
Director Robert Altman won for Gosford Park, a film that was otherwise ignored.

AUSSIE WATCH
Down Under accents were everywhere. Nicole Kidman, twice nominated for Best Actress, was tapped for Moulin Rouge.

Froot Loops For Camp X-Ray
Even if they're still being held in cells that look like chain-link dog kennels, the Taliban and al-Qaeda captives at Guantanamo Bay can't complain about the menu. Last week the (so far) 158 detainees at Camp X-Ray started eating a halal diet (religiously correct Islamic meals, featuring foods like pita bread, fruit and Asian spices) as well as what has quickly become their favorite breakfast: Froot Loops, which they scarf from snack packs like American teenagers.

On balance, the brass at "Gitmo" are confident that they have stanched the criticism of human-rights groups, which were howling about the captives' treatment. The prisoners have been given Korans, and are visited daily by a U.S. Navy Muslim cleric, who calls them to their prayers. A few miles away, they get top-flight medical attention at a new, state-of-the-art MASH unit. They have even started growing their beards again.

Marine Brigadier General Michael Lehnert, Camp X-Ray's warden, warns that "leaders are beginning to emerge" among the prisoners who might try to organize a jailhouse revolt. He suspects they may have begun exchanging covert messages written with rocks on the concrete floors of their cells. "We can identify tendencies," said Lehnert, as interrogations began in earnest. BY TIM PADGETT

Gender Gap
The SALARIES of women and men in managerial jobs were even further apart in 2000 than in 1995 in seven of the 10 industries that employ the most women in the U.S., according to a GAO study. In 1995 FEMALE MANAGERS in entertainment earned 83[cents] for every $1 earned by a male manager; by 2000 female managers in that industry earned only 62[cents]. In communications, women in management went from 86[cents] to 73[cents]. ONE THEORY to explain the widening wage gulf is that in the booming labor market of the late '90s, job applicants could aggressively negotiate salaries. Research shows men tend to be better at it than women.

If At First You Don't Succeed...
The divorce rate in the U.S. peaked in 1981. Now the kids of that generation have reached prime marrying age. How have their feelings toward marriage--and behavior within it--been shaped by their experience? A new book says at least one repercussion is a phenomenon known as the "starter marriage," a union between those in their 20s and early 30s who marry for five years or less and divorce without having kids. Author Pamela Paul, whose first marriage failed within a year, is a little short on hard evidence, since no statistics exist on the topic. She based her conclusions on interviews with 60 couples who have experienced short-lived unions, as well as polls of young people's attitudes toward marriage. Even those whose parents stayed together, she contends, were affected by the upheaval in families around them. "Now they're searching for the stability they lacked by having their own families," says Paul. What they often discover is that they are seeking something unattainable. But unlike their parents, these couples are apt to delay having children. When the time comes to start a family, they take a look at their marriage; if it doesn't seem right, they just end it. BY MICHELE ORECKLIN

Well, He Said He'd Be Back
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had considered but rejected a run for California Governor last spring, is about to edge back into the statewide political arena. Between publicity junkets for his new action film, Collateral Damage, the star, 54, is launching a California ballot initiative to put aside $550 million in state funds for after-school programs. So far, he has spent $1 million of his own money to push the measure, which would offer grants to every state elementary and middle school. Signature gathering begins this week. Next month the actor will barnstorm across the state for the initiative. Could this be Arnie's way of saying "I'll be back"? Or could a touch of Kennedy do-goodism be rubbing off on the stalwart Republican? Schwarzenegger, who is married to a Kennedy (NBC's Maria Shriver) and may yet run for Governor in 2006, has picked a popular issue. The initiative would not aggravate California's deficit, since it takes effect only if revenues rise after an economic rebound. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, running for the G.O.P. nomination for Governor, will make the measure part of his platform. And Governor Gray Davis, who froze after-school funds, has changed direction and pledged to nearly double current spending in next year's budget. BY MARGOT ROOSEVELT

What Wiped Out The Dinosaurs?
Nearly all of us now know--or think we know--how the dinosaurs perished: some 65 million years ago, a giant asteroid or comet struck the earth, spewing huge amounts of dust and debris into the air. That dust, according to a widely accepted theory first proposed by Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez, was circulated by the winds and enshrouded the earth for months, blocking sunlight and causing temperatures to plummet. As a result, the dinosaurs, and 70% of all other terrestrial species, were wiped out.

But this scenario was rudely challenged last week by Kevin Pope, a former NASA scientist. Reviewing recent studies of atom-bomb blasts and analyses of particles in strata at the 65 million-year level, he concluded in Geology that most of the dust particles were too large to have remained suspended in the air for many months. The finer particles that stayed airborne would not have blocked enough sunlight to cause mass extinctions. Pope speculates instead that soot from the worldwide conflagrations, sulfate aerosols and other impact phenomena were to blame. His findings prompted such headlines as ALVAREZ TEAM WAS WRONG and DUST DIDN'T DO IT, and heartened the relatively few scientists who still contest the Alvarez theory. Others, however, dispute Pope's analysis and say his methodology was faulty. While acknowledging other contributory factors, they still believe dust was the major component of the sun-blocking shroud that dispatched the dinosaurs. BY LEON JAROFF