United States Government

The Bush Administration obtained advance support of American Jewish leaders before imposing new rules that had the effect of diverting most Soviet Jewish emigres from the United States to Israel, according to informed sources. Administration officials and Jewish leaders both said that the consultations defused what could have turned into a firestorm of controversy.

President Bush has come face to face with the limits of the American presidency. Last week, the Senate dealt him a major energy policy defeat when it thwarted his plan to drill for oil in the Arctic wilderness. He was defied in the Middle East as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell returned from a lengthy, much-touted mission unable to win a cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians.

The U.S. government was ordered Tuesday to pay the heirs of amateur filmmaker Abraham Zapruder $16 million for seizing one of the nation's most macabre artifacts--the 26-second film capturing President John F. Kennedy's final moments. An arbitration panel charged with determining the value of the film said that the figure might be on the low side.

The Bush administration's rapid initial approval of this month's coup in Venezuela has tarnished its status as self-proclaimed champion of democracy and the rule of law in Latin America. Moreover, the reaction to the attempted ouster of President Hugo Chavez especially rankled Latin leaders because it followed recent trade and security measures in which the U.S. has been seen as contradicting its principles. The practical effects could include an erosion in support for U.S.

Developer Bill L. Walters, who told a congressional committee in June that he was broke after defaulting on nearly $100 million in loans obtained from a Denver thrift with the help of Neil Bush, is now living in the lap of luxury here. In February, a trust for Walters' wife, Jacqueline, bought a $1.9-million gated estate near Newport Bay, according to county records reviewed by The Times.

Wen Ho Lee walked out of court a free man Wednesday after a federal judge repeatedly apologized for incarcerating him for nine months without trial and angrily rebuked the Clinton administration for its handling of a case that "embarrassed this entire nation." In a morning marked by high drama, laughter and tears of joy, the former Los Alamos nuclear weapon scientist agreed in thickly accented English to a negotiated deal that brings an abrupt end to the highly controversial case.

The new president of Panama met with government officials to start forming a Cabinet after calling for better U.S. ties. However, provisional President Francisco Rodriguez ruled out elections until Washington lifts economic sanctions. In a speech before his first day in office, Rodriguez said he will lead Panama to "a new democracy as soon as American aggression ceases and the funds arbitrarily withheld by the United States government are returned."

Alicia Feuchter, a junior at Fullerton Union High School, has been chosen to participate in Presidential Classroom, a leadership program in Washington. The program gives students from across the nation an opportunity to attend sessions of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as briefings with a number of government organizations, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Feuchter, 16, will be in Washington from June 29 to July 6.

The Bush Administration on Friday sharply rejected Fidel Castro's sarcastic call for U.S. ships to come and pick up Cubans unhappy with his rule. Officials expressed worry about a possible wave of refugees if Cubans take Castro seriously. The State Department also said it has officially protested to Cuba for its accusing the United States of inciting dozens of Cubans to seek asylum in foreign embassies in Havana in recent days.

If nothing else, our experience in Panama illustrates the perils of intervention. It all seemed so perfect: a leader who trafficked in drugs and money with both Sandinistas and Cubans, and so was unacceptable to all and sundry in the United States. If Washington couldn't impose its will in a good cause there, where could it? From the beginning, though, the broad U.S. consensus over Panama should have been worrying. Even if our actions to topple Gen. Manuel A.

A lawyer for President Bush on Monday defended alleged lying by the Clinton administration in a Supreme Court case that centers on whether government officials can be sued if they lie to cover up crucial facts. The case has nothing to do with Paula Corbin Jones or Monica S. Lewinsky but instead concerns the Clinton administration's support for the Guatemalan military.

Death came to Santo Domingo as its people celebrated life. Villagers were gathering for a street fair that bright December morning, but a battle had broken out between the Colombian army and leftist rebels in the nearby jungle. The villagers heard a military helicopter roar overhead. Seconds later, an explosion ripped through this collection of wood huts on the edge of Colombia's northeastern plain. Two children were cut down as their grandmother made them breakfast.

In the midst of the American heartland, far from the feared target of an attack, President Bush said Friday that concerns about a nuclear strike by terrorists were behind the continuing operation of a "shadow government" ready to take over if Washington is destroyed. "Until this country has routed out terrorists wherever they try to hide, we're not safe," Bush said on a trip to Iowa that mixed policy and politics.

The General Accounting Office, the investigative agency of Congress, announced Wednesday that it would sue the White House for refusing to reveal the inner workings of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, foreshadowing a high-stakes constitutional battle laced with political overtones.

Faced with growing legal and political challenges, Vice President Dick Cheney stepped forward Sunday to vigorously defend the administration's handling of the collapse of Enron Corp.--and his own refusal to release details of his meetings with Enron and other industry executives in formulating the Bush administration's energy policy. Cheney's defiance puts the administration on course for a legal clash with Congress' investigative arm, the nonpartisan General Accounting Office.

Senior Bush administration officials defended themselves Sunday for not alerting the president and the public that thousands of employees and investors were likely to lose large amounts of money in the failing Enron Corp., arguing that the giant energy company already was doomed by the time its executives began to seek help from Washington last fall. In addition, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill said that "in the broad scheme of things," he was not necessarily surprised that Enron sought U.S.

One-hundred-year-old Teru Noda leaned back in her wheelchair Friday morning and let loose a rush of laughter that had been 48 years in the making. Above her head, Noda gingerly waved a check from the United States government--a partial payment for the three years she spent in a desert internment camp during World War II. On the blue slip of paper, printed next to an inset of the Statue of Liberty, were the words, "Pay to the Order of: Teru Noda--$20,000."

On a Sunday afternoon 10 days before President Clinton's State of the Union address, Clinton and Vice President Al Gore met in the White House with about a dozen leaders of major environmental groups. A week later, Gore met with the leaders again to brief them about the contents of Clinton's economic package. It contained 19 of 30 measures recommended by the Sierra Club, one of the groups in the meetings.

The Enron Corp. scandal is approaching a stage where questions about the investigative process may threaten the White House as much as revelations about its substantive dealings with the bankrupt energy giant. In the next several days, the most pointed questions confronting the administration may not be whether officials provided favored treatment for Enron as it slid toward ruin.

President Bush has formalized the line of succession at several key federal agencies in case a Cabinet secretary is killed or incapacitated, a housekeeping task with fresh meaning after Sept. 11. With no fanfare, Bush signed a series of executive orders in the last week that mandate a lengthy list of officials and the order in which they would take control of their Cabinet agencies. The orders don't affect the succession for the presidency, officials said.