Iraq update: 1) Iraq expelled U.S. weapons inspectors. 2) U.N. weapons-inspection chief Richard Butler ordered the rest of his team out of the country, saying that Iraq has no right to veto specific inspectors. 3) President Clinton portrayed the expulsion as a challenge to the U.N. Security Council's manhood. 4) The council responded with the same vague, toothless threats that Iraq has already scorned. France and Russia complained that Butler should have continued his inspections without the Americans. Editorialists derided the council's cowardice. Analysts concluded that only an Iraqi attack on a U.S. weapons-inspection spy plane might prompt the council to use force. 5) A U.S. spy plane is set to fly over Iraq Nov. 16 or soon thereafter. (For an update on Iraq since the Gulf War, see Slate's "The Gist.") (11/14)

The mastermind and the driver in the World Trade Center bombing were convicted. They face life sentences. Four lesser conspirators were convicted in 1994; another suspect escaped, probably to Iraq. The remaining mystery is whether some other person, group, or country funded and orchestrated the bombing. The sunny spin: We nailed the terrorists. The ominous spin: The terrorists nailed us first, more are coming, and there are too many to keep track of. Meanwhile, the FBI ended its probe of the TWA Flight 800 plane crash, leaving mechanical failure as the only theory under investigation. Editorialists labored to connect the two contrary outcomes. (11/14)

Congress killed payments to the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund for the rest of the year. The reason: an abstruse quarrel over abortion funding. The payments to the United Nations were already overdue. Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry called the decision "utterly boneheaded" because 1) the United States needs U.N. support against Iraq and 2) the IMF needs the promise of U.S. financial support to help quell financial panic in Asia. Another end-of-session deal will allow more than a million illegal immigrants to stay in the United States but tighten controls on future illegal entrants. Immigrant spokesmen welcomed the relaxation but said it was unfair to future comers and favored some groups (Nicaraguans and Cubans) over others. (11/14)

The Washington Post reported more evidence of the alleged Chinese plot to influence U.S. elections. 1) FBI intelligence files indicate that Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia has been a Chinese agent. 2) "Reliable" reports say that John Huang gave a classified document to China while in the Commerce Department, but the FBI can't confirm this. 3) "Fragmentary intelligence" suggests that China wanted to channel money to Clinton's campaign. The spin: Why didn't the Justice Department get this information earlier? Attorney General Janet Reno didn't get it and give it to Senate investigation chairman Fred Thompson until his hearings had ended. Analysts called it another blow to Reno's credibility and another reason to appoint an independent counsel. (11/14)

Assassins stalked and murdered four Americans in Pakistan. The Americans were employees of an oil company; the assassins reportedly wore Pakistani clothing. Police say there's "a strong possibility" that the assassination is a payback for this week's conviction of a Pakistani man who killed two CIA employees outside CIA headquarters in 1993. (In both cases, the victims were shot to death in their cars.) Among other things, the Pakistani convicted of the 1993 shootings was said to be angry over the 1991 U.S. bombing of Iraq. (11/12)

WorldCom is buying MCI for $36.5 billion. This surpasses the previous record for merger size by half. The combined company would lead the world in Internet traffic and control one-fourth of the U.S. long-distance market (whereas AT&T controls half). The conventional spin: Once again, telecom deregulation is producing a megamerger instead of the increased competition and lower prices politicians had promised. The second-day backspin, fed by WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers: Megamergers will create companies big enough to build the networks necessary to compete seriously with the big companies that already exist, thereby lowering prices. Most interesting inside spin: MCI is getting so much money and so many top-level jobs in the deal that it's arguably a "reverse takeover," in which Ebbers is selling his company for the top job at MCI. (11/12)

Egypt will boycott a U.S.-backed conference meant to strengthen economic relations between Israel and Arab countries. The stated reason: Israeli intransigence in negotiations with the Palestinians. Since Egypt is a key U.S. ally, its decision gives other Arab states political cover to skip the conference. Only Jordan, Qatar, Yemen, and Kuwait have agreed to join Israel at the meeting. The conventional spin: Arab-Israeli relations, whose progress had already been halted, are now regressing. Corollary: This will make it harder for the United States to win Arab support for a confrontation with Iraq. The underspin: What is our $2 billion in foreign aid to Egypt buying? (11/12)

British au pair Louise Woodward was set free. The judge reduced her conviction from second-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter and cut her sentence from life in prison to the nine months she has already served. His explanation: The evidence indicated that she lacked malice when she fatally injured the child under her care. Spin roundup: 1) The system redeemed itself. 2) She got away with murder. 3) Overturning jury verdicts sets a bad precedent. 4) Letting defense lawyers off the hook for demanding all-or-nothing verdicts sets a bad precedent. (See Slate's assessment of Woodward lawyer Barry Scheck.) 5) Televised trials will increase public pressure on judges. 6) Electing judges makes them vulnerable to public pressure. 7) Bad nannies happen to good families. 8) Bad nannies happen to families with bad judgment. 9) The government should stop importing bad nannies from Europe. 10) The government should spend billions on protecting families from bad nannies. 11) The original life sentence undermined support for mandatory minimum sentencing and/or the death penalty. (11/10)

President Clinton withdrew the fast-track trade bill from Congress because he couldn't muster enough votes to pass it. The New York Times called it Clinton's most humiliating defeat since the 1994 health-care debacle. Bonus humiliation: While Republicans overwhelmingly supported Clinton, only 42 of the 205 House Democrats went along. Pundits divided into two camps: Some derided Clinton for failing to inspire enough trust among Democrats, while others derided him for failing to inspire enough fear among Democrats (who are more afraid of losing financial and political support from organized labor). The backspin: Maybe now he won't have to support the stupid agriculture subsidies he was offering to trade for fast-track votes. (11/10)

The president also spoke at a gay-rights fund-raising dinner. His address to the Human Rights Campaign was the first speech to a gay-rights group by a sitting president. Analysts called it a definitive sign that gays have arrived as a political force. Clinton likened anti-gay job discrimination to racism and urged Congress to ban the practice. (See Slate's "Frame Game" for more.) He avoided appearing before cameras with Ellen DeGeneres, who also spoke at the dinner. Commentators attributed this decision to the negative fallout from Vice President Gore's previous comments in support of Ellen. (11/10)