A Serbian mob attacked U.S. troops in Bosnia, wounding two soldiers. This was the worst clash between Bosnian Serb civilians and NATO troops since the 1995 peace agreement. Analysts agreed that NATO is increasingly provoking the Serbs by helping Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic wrest power from her predecessor, Radovan Karadzic, who remains the Serbs' de facto leader. Critics worry that NATO's new activism against Karadzic will endanger its troops and trap them in a Bosnian quagmire. However, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. John Shalikashvili rejected the idea of involving U.S. troops in the arrests of Bosnian war criminals. (8/29)

Joe Kennedy withdrew his candidacy for governor of Massachusetts. He explained that if he had stayed in the race, the election would have focused on his annulment and his brother's alleged fling with the family baby sitter. Media coverage of Kennedy's withdrawal focused on his annulment and his brother's alleged fling with the family baby sitter. (8/29)

Eugenic sterilization is the hot topic in Europe. Swedes are outraged by reports that Sweden forcibly sterilized 62,000 "inferior" citizens between the 1930s and the 1970s. Targets were evidently chosen by race as well as by mental capacity. Meanwhile, a Swiss professor disclosed that Swiss doctors forcibly sterilized retarded patients until 20 years ago. The Swiss law was used by Hitler to justify Nazi policies. Similar sterilizations reportedly are still forced on women in Austria. The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post played up the Swedish eugenics program as the sick side of Sweden's self-styled perfection. (8/29)

Former agriculture secretary Mike Espy was indicted for soliciting favors from companies under his purview and then covering them up. Espy's lawyer argued that the favors he accepted (e.g., sports tickets and a crystal bowl) were trivial, adding up to just $35,000. Critics pointed out that Espy is the third Clinton Cabinet secretary to require an independent counsel (along with Ron Brown and Henry Cisneros) and could soon be joined by a fourth (Hazel O'Leary). (8/29)

Straws in the wind: A baby boom in Moscow may be signaling the renewal of Russian optimism, according to the New York Times. California's Supreme Court ruled that victims of age discrimination in the workplace have the same rights as victims of race and sex discrimination. California's conservative attorney general also endorsed a proposed study to settle the debate over the benefits of medical marijuana. SAT math scores are up, reaching a 26-year peak, but verbal scores remain low. SAT administrators noted that grades assigned by teachers are being inflated relative to SAT scores. A Million Woman March, patterned on the Million Man March, is being planned for Oct. 25 in Philadelphia. So far, it seems poorly organized. Kentucky physicians are counseling locals to stop eating squirrel brains, lest they contract mad cow disease. (8/29)

Vice President Gore made scores of fund-raising calls from the White House, according to newly released documents. Various papers put the number between 70 and 93. This updates the previous White House estimate (48), which updated Gore's previous characterization ("a few occasions"). The White House says there's no logical inconsistency between Gore's description and the new numbers, but the press agrees that Gore has shown a pattern of fudging. Two interesting notes: 1) Gore was asked to solicit money from FedEx Chairman Frederick Smith, and was briefed with a memo noting that the administration "has been very responsive to his company." (For more on Smith and money mongering, see the campaign-finance-scandal update, below.) Gore evidently didn't make this call. 2) Ex-White House Counsel Jack Quinn, a Gore ally, also made fund-raising calls from the White House. Quinn isn't covered by Gore's excuse that the president and veep are exempt from the Hatch Act. Instead, Quinn claims his calls weren't fund-raising calls because he was thanking contributors, not soliciting them. (8/27)

Abner Louima plans to hire Johnnie Cochran to represent him in a half-billion-dollar lawsuit against New York City for police brutality, according to the New York Post. Four cops have been charged with assaulting the Haitian immigrant and buggering him with a toilet plunger, causing severe injuries. Other racial flash points: The Army is considering whether to court-martial accused sexual harasser/abuser Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney. His lawyer has threatened to focus the trial on the Army's alleged selective prosecution of black officers for sexual harassment. And the California state medical board has suspended the license of a black doctor who had been touted for years as one of affirmative action's success stories. (8/27)

Scientists have found a genetic flaw in 6 percent of Ashkenazi Jews that doubles the risk of colon cancer. The official optimistic spin: Understanding the mechanics of the flaw will lead to new methods of preventing colon cancer. The official pessimistic spin: Insurance companies might use genetic tests to discriminate against Jews who carry the flaw. The unofficial spin: Why are Ashkenazi Jews predisposed to so many diseases? (Examples: breast cancer, Tay-Sachs, cystic fibrosis.) Scientists' best theory: too much inbreeding during the Middle Ages. (8/27)

North Korea's ambassador to Egypt defected to the United States. American officials exulted that he is their biggest North Korean catch ever and could provide the United States with loads of valuable intelligence about North Korean arms proliferation. North Korea responded by canceling this week's talks with the United States, which were supposed to curtail North Korean arms proliferation. (8/27)

Update on the campaign-finance scandal: 1) The Democratic money scandal is converging with the Teamsters scandal. The Justice Department reportedly is investigating whether the Democratic National Committee funded Ron Carey's campaign in exchange for Teamster funding of the Clinton campaign. Republicans are demanding a special prosecutor and promising congressional investigations. 2) The House investigating committee subpoenaed records to determine whether the Clinton administration pressured Johnny Chung into giving $25,000 to then-Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary's pet charity, Africare, in order to secure a business meeting with her. 3) The Washington Post reported that FedEx Chairman Frederick Smith sought favorable trade policies in a private meeting with President Clinton while FedEx was contributing more than half-a-million dollars to Democrats. 4) Court records indicate that a jewelry-fraud ring used illegal third-party campaign donations to get President Clinton to pose in photos with its principals. It then used the photos in promotional literature to con 15,000 investors. (8/25)

A federal election monitor decertified Ron Carey's election as president of the Teamsters, citing evidence of fraud and diversion of union funds to Carey's campaign. Carey wasn't directly implicated; but his complicity wasn't ruled out, either. The official delayed the announcement until the UPS strike was settled, so as not to influence its outcome. The Wall Street Journal points out that this decision influenced the strike's outcome. The election will have to be rerun, but Carey may have the advantage because he triumphed in the strike. Carey's chief rival, James Hoffa the younger, demanded that he step down. Editorialists lamented that Carey's campaign against union corruption now bears the taint of union corruption. (See David Plotz's assessment of Carey, "A More Perfect Unionist.") (8/25)

The government will pay hospitals not to train doctors. This nationalizes a $400-million New York state subsidy scheme that aims to reduce the surplus of doctors. Critics argue that the subsidy is idiotic. Defenders argue that it's less idiotic than the current Medicare policy of subsidizing physician training, which has exacerbated the surplus. Opponents of the New York scheme had pointed out the unfairness of paying New York hospitals to undertake cutbacks that hospitals elsewhere were undertaking at no charge. Instead of equalizing things by scrapping the New York payment scheme, Congress decided to equalize things by nationalizing it. Now economists are pointing out the unfairness of subsidizing the reduction in the number of doctors while refusing to do the same for other professions, such as economists. (See Jodie T. Allen's "Yes, We Have No Physicians.") (8/25)

Burger King swore off Hudson Foods' beef forever. This comes after: 1) fecal bacteria in beef distributed by Hudson's Nebraska plant sickened 17 people in Colorado; 2) the Department of Agriculture obliged Hudson to shut down the plant and undertake the biggest recall in meat history; and 3) investigators cited the plant for questionable record-keeping and safety practices. The divorce cost Hudson its biggest client and inaugurated Burger King's campaign to persuade customers to continue eating its meat. Editorialists conducted the usual food-scare protocol: calming the public and explaining that risk can never be eliminated, while decrying ad hoc government responses and demanding stricter laws. (8/25)

Pundits are giving up on the Middle East peace process. Anthony Lewis says the Oslo peace deal "has been undermined, perhaps fatally." Henry Kissinger says it was doomed by vagueness and naiveté from the outset. The latest escalation: Palestinian officials accused Israel of preparing commando attacks on Palestinian territory--including an assassination attempt on Yasser Arafat, according to a Palestinian mayor--and urged the United States to stop Israel's blockade of Bethlehem and its destruction of Palestinian houses. Meanwhile, Arafat continued to defy Israel's demands that he round up Islamic militants. And the United States and France, among other nations, urged Israel and Lebanon to halt the spread of violence along their border. (See Slate's "Gist" on the Palestinian Authority.) (8/25)