The balanced-budget constitutional amendment appears to be dead. Sen. Bob Torricelli, D-N.J., who holds the swing vote, announced he had decided to vote against the amendment because the Senate rejected changes he had proposed. (2/26)

Update on the Democratic fund-raising scandal: 1) President Clinton's handwritten note shows that he directly approved and encouraged a plan to reward big Democratic donors with coffees, stays in the Lincoln bedroom, and other White House perks. The initial media spin is that this was scandalously legal. 2) The Washington Post reported that the Democratic National Committee received $15,000 from an Asian developer who serves in an advisory capacity within the Chinese government. 3) The Los Angeles Times reported that the DNC "sought specific sums" from donors in exchange for coffees with President Clinton. 4) The Washington Post reported that DNC co-chairman Don Fowler called Cabinet members to relay requests from donors. Fowler told the Post it was part of his job. 5) The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors have evidence of illegal donations to the DNC from a Venezuelan banking family. Update on the investigation: Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott joined Sens. Daniel P. Moynihan and Russell Feingold and former Sen. Bill Bradley, all Democrats, in calling for an independent counsel. (2/26)

A leading abortion-rights advocate indicated that he and his pro-choice colleagues have lied about the rarity of partial-birth abortions. Ron Fitzsimmons, the director of a national coalition of abortion clinics, said that contrary to assertions by President Clinton and abortion-rights activists, the vast majority of patients who have the procedure (technically known as intact dilation and evacuation) are healthy women with healthy fetuses that have gestated at least 20 weeks. (2/26)

Multimillionaire wrestling enthusiast John E. du Pont was convicted of murdering a wrestler at his estate a year ago. The compromise verdict--that du Pont wasn't legally insane but was mentally ill--reduces his sentence from life to between five and 40 years, the first part of which he will spend in a mental hospital. The district attorney concluded that "the wealthiest murder defendant in the history of the United States" (sorry, O.J.) has been brought to justice. (2/26)

Bombs and bomb scares dominated the news. In Jacksonville, Fla., an Orthodox Jew has been charged with planting a bomb at a Conservative synagogue less than 40 feet from where former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres spoke a few hours later. The bomb wasn't detected, but it failed to go off. The Army of God, a fundamentalist anti-abortion group, has apparently claimed responsibility for the bombings of an abortion clinic and a gay nightclub in Atlanta. Investigators are looking into whether the bomb had something to do with the club owner's brother, a nationally known practitioner of late-term abortions. Meanwhile, the FBI canceled a nationwide "terrorist threat advisory" after discovering that two men who were thought to be assembling a huge fertilizer bomb were average guys working for an industrial cleaning firm. (2/26)

The Clinton administration's reported intention to certify Mexico as an ally in the drug wars is in trouble. Congressional opponents cite 1) the recent arrest of Mexico's drug czar, Gen. Jésus Gutiérrez Rebollo, on charges of dealing with narcotics kingpins, and 2) new testimony, from the longtime secretary to one of Mexico's patriarchs, of narcotics dealings involving high-level politicians. Supporters of recertification said Rebollo's arrest demonstrated Mexico's resolve in the drug wars. But some U.S. officials argued that Mexico had failed to notify the United States of the arrest for almost two weeks, thereby jeopardizing U.S. agents and informers about whom the general had been briefed. (2/26)

A Palestinian man, Ali Abu Kamal, shot seven people on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, killing one. Abu Kamal then killed himself. An anti-terrorism task force had been put on the case, but a note written by the gunman seems to confirm police suspicions that he was deranged and acted alone. (2/26)

Scientists have cloned an adult mammal. Researchers who performed the experiment (on sheep) said their technique will allow the engineering of animals to produce helpful drugs. Other scientists pointed out that the technique can be applied to humans, that the United States has no laws against it, and that such laws couldn't be enforced anyway, since the procedure can be done in almost any lab anywhere in the world. While enthusiasts point to hypothetical benefits (e.g., saving endangered species, replicating a dying baby), media reaction has focused on ethical nightmares (e.g., breeding human organ donors or supermen, replicating Hitler, resurrecting the dead). Moreover, "there'd be no need for men," notes biologist Ursula Goodenough. A presidential bioethics panel is expected to take up the question. (2/24)

Albert Shanker, longtime president of the American Federation of Teachers, died. Shanker crippled New York City's school system in the late 1960s with strikes against school decentralization. He later endorsed strong standards for both teachers and students, which annoyed many teachers but made him a hero to school reformers. But he'll be best remembered for a line in Woody Allen's 1973 movie, Sleeper, about how civilization was destroyed when "a man named Albert Shanker got the bomb."(2/24)

Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr decided not to quit after all. Reports attribute his decision not to become a dean at Pepperdine University to angry objections from his staff and GOP leaders. Republicans say Starr has proved his integrity by admitting his mistake. Pundits, however, agree that the reversal fails to erase the widespread conclusion that he has given up on indicting the Clintons--and that it only confirms his lack of judgment, further weakening the investigation's credibility. Meanwhile, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette retracted its much-ballyhooed report that Starr had held mock trials in which the Clintons were acquitted. And the Los Angeles Times reported that Starr's report on Vince Foster's suicide will debunk right-wing theories that Foster was killed. (2/24)

Chinese President Jiang Zemin is attracting scrutiny now that his mentor, Deng Xiaoping, is dead. Analysts consider Jiang a clumsy weakling compared with Deng, and are debating whether 1) he will continue Deng's reforms or return to authoritarianism and 2) he can consolidate power or will be outmaneuvered by rivals. Most agree that he's a Clinton-style "weather vane," adapting his positions to the demands of contrary constituencies ranging from the army to foreign investors to Western diplomats. (2/24)

Former heavyweight-boxing champ Riddick Bowe quit the Marines after a few days of basic training. His manager explained that Bowe was scrapping his much-publicized attempt to serve in the corps (his boyhood dream) because Marine training turned out to be a lot harder than his boxing training regimen (four hours of work interrupted by a nap), and Bowe didn't like being told what to do. Commentators dismissed him as a pampered wimp who jerked around both the military and the taxpayer. The Marines gained new respect for having broken him. (2/24)

Pat Boone's television show, GospelAmerica, was canceled after an uproar over his dabbling in heavy metal. Boone, 62, had appeared onstage at the American Music Awards in a bare-chested leather outfit to promote his new album, in which he croons famous metal tunes. Boone claims that the album's purpose is to attract metal enthusiasts to Jesus, and that his get-up was a spoof of his old choirboy image. Nevertheless, outraged viewers complained to the Christian television network that had been airing his show, causing its cancellation. Callers to the network are being advised to pray for him. (2/21)

Lawrence Singleton, a notorious rapist who hacked off his victim's forearms and then spent only eight years in prison, has been arrested in the stabbing to death in Florida of another woman. Outraged citizens and commentators are scorning the folly of rehabilitation and demanding tougher sentencing laws for sex offenders. The irony is that such laws are already in place, inspired in part by Singleton's previous release, but they don't cover him retroactively. (2/21)