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Attorney General Janet Reno decided not to seek the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate whether Vice President Al Gore violated fund-raising laws in the 1996 campaign. Reno must still decide whether to seek an independent counsel to investigate whether President Clinton and other Democratic officials illegally used party funds to pay for ads that promoted the Clinton-Gore ticket. The spins: 1) Reno nixed the investigation because, as she says, "The evidence fails to provide any reasonable basis for a conclusion that the vice president may have lied." 2) She nixed the investigation to protect Clinton and Gore. 3) She nixed it because Ken Starr proved that the independent counsel law is bad. 4) She nixed it because Starr proved that the independent counsel law is bad for the Clinton administration. 5) Her decision helps Gore's presidential candidacy by reaffirming his integrity. 6) Her decision helps Gore's presidential candidacy because, as one Gore ally put it, an independent counsel investigation of how Gore raised money in 1996 "would have made it much harder for him to raise money" for 2000. (11/25/98)

Britain's highest court ruled that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet can be extradited to Spain for prosecution on charges of murder and torture. Pinochet had argued that he was immune from arrest because his alleged crimes were part of his job as head of state. But the judges ruled that "torture of his own subjects or of aliens would not be regarded by international law as a function of a head of state." Unless Britain's home secretary intervenes or Pinochet persuades the British courts to block the extradition on other grounds, Pinochet will be packed off to Spain. Human rights activists celebrated the ruling as a breakthrough for international law and justice. On the other side, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher argued that Pinochet "is old, frail, and sick, and on compassionate grounds alone should be allowed to return to Chile."(11/25/98)

U.N. weapons inspection chief Richard Butler told the U.N. Security Council that Iraq is not cooperating with weapons inspections as it had promised. The council took no action. (11/25/98)

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., announced his bid to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. McConnell has been criticized because the GOP failed to gain any seats in the Senate, contrary to expectations. Explaining that "one of the things Republicans learned in 1998 is you can't just win by beating up on your opponent," Hagel complained that the GOP's message has been insufficiently "positive," and he denounced the "constant, demonizing, negative campaigning" of this year's elections. Analysts think Hagel has little chance of winning. (11/25/98)

America Online is buying Netscape. The deal involves a $4 billion stock swap and a simultaneous partnership between AOL and Sun Microsystems. Everyone agrees these transactions create a potentially powerful alliance against Microsoft, since AOL, Sun, and Netscape had $12.4 billion in combined revenue last year, compared with Microsoft's $14 billion. The spins, in order of ascending sophistication: 1) Microsoft wins, because Netscape dies. 2) Microsoft loses, because Netscape adds muscle. 3) The antitrust case against Microsoft emboldened its competitors to form this alliance. 4) The pending alliance, under discussion for the past month, emboldened the allies to testify against Microsoft in the antitrust case. 5) The sale of Netscape for $4 billion debunks the antitrust case by proving that Microsoft didn't hurt Netscape much. 6) The alliance proves that even Microsoft is not safe in the rapidly changing high-tech economy, as Microsoft openly proclaimed all along. 7) The alliance proves that even Microsoft is not safe in the rapidly changing high-tech economy, contrary to what Microsoft secretly believed all along. (For more Slate coverage of the deal, see this "Moneybox" and this "Dispatch" from the Microsoft trial.) (11/24/98)

Prosecutors are considering whether to charge Dr. Jack Kevorkian with killing a patient. 60 Minutes aired a video, provided by Kevorkian, that shows him arranging the procedure and later injecting the patient. Kevorkian says he's confessing to euthanasia for the first time, in order to force a trial and set a legal precedent. As a bonus, Kevorkian vows, "If I am convicted, I will starve to death in prison." In defense of the broadcast--which came during the last weekend of sweeps month--a CBS spokesman asserted, "I really don't think there's a news organization in this country that would pass up this story." The spins: 1) Kevorkian's videotaping of his grisly work is a new low. 2) CBS's airing of the video is a new low. 3) CBS is using the hand wringing about a new low to boost ratings. 4) Kevorkian is using CBS and the attendant hand wringing about a new low to recapture center stage, à la Saddam Hussein. 5) While the video of the patient's death preoccupies commentators and hurts the moral case for assisted suicide, everyone is overlooking the awful video of the patient's last days of life, which bolsters the moral case for assisted suicide. (11/23/98)

The tobacco industry has settled all remaining lawsuits by the states. Under the joint agreement, the industry will 1) pay the states more than $200 billion; 2) set up a foundation to fund anti-smoking education; 3) end tobacco ads on billboards; and 4) stop marketing paraphernalia attractive to kids. The spins: 1) The industry gets everything it wanted--financial predictability, the elimination of pesky lawsuits, and a public relations bonanza. 2) The settlement doesn't get as much from the industry as Clinton tried to get last year, particularly regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration. 3) Clinton will push for more regulation, because our kids are at stake. 4) Clinton will push for more regulation, because poll ratings are at stake. 5) State attorneys general leapt at the settlement, because big bucks are at stake. (11/23/98)

Independent Counsel Ken Starr testified for 12 hours before the House Judiciary Committee. Starr came to outline his charges against President Clinton, but Democrats focused the hearing on whether Starr had conducted his investigation improperly. Starr kept his cool, winning praise from pundits, until the end of the hearing, when he erupted in a verbal brawl with Clinton's lawyer David Kendall. (Starr's best line, in response to Kendall's question about whether Starr had hired private eyes: "No, we have never hired Terry Lenzner.") The White House spin: Starr presented no new evidence. The Republican spin: Democrats presented no defense of Clinton's behavior. The sunny media spin: Starr proved he's not rabid. The cynical media spin: No, he proved he's boring. The spins on Clinton: 1) While Starr showed up and took the heat, Clinton escaped to Japan. 2) A Japanese housewife foiled Clinton's escape by telling him on Japanese television that "I would never be able to forgive my husband for doing that." (For more on Starr's testimony, see "A Starr Is Boring," by Slate's David Plotz.) (11/20/98)

Starr conceded that he will not press charges against Clinton in Whitewater and Filegate. Democrats and the press touted this as "exoneration." Starr said he still thinks Clinton lied under oath about Whitewater, but he won't press charges because his case hangs on whether a convicted felon, James McDougal, has testified truthfully against Clinton. Cynics' translation: Susan McDougal saved Clinton by refusing to cooperate with Starr. Democrats accused Starr of playing politics by withholding his exoneration of Clinton until after the election. (11/20/98)

Cashing in: 1) Outgoing House Speaker Newt Gingrich is offering to give speeches for $50,000 a pop, plus three first-class plane tickets. A sales pitch from the Washington Speakers Bureau says, "In addition to his speech, Mr. Gingrich, a man of ideas, is willing to meet for one hour ... to exchange views with your CEO, organization president or board of directors." 2) Former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry is offering to give speeches for $10,000 in Washington and for $20,000 elsewhere. His new gig is a managing partnership in an international PR firm. (11/20/98)