Pandora

WASHINGTON -- Barring a last-minute compromise, the Senate today takes on the increasingly messy case of Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., whose diary is said to chronicle not only his love life, but also those of fellow lawmakers, and is said to raise questions about possible criminal violations.The threat of such broader disclosures, which emerged after the Senate ethics committee subpoenaed the 8,200-page diary in its investigation of allegations of improper sexual conduct by Mr. Packwood, has thrown the normally staid chamber into a tizzy.

The Clinton administration is now officially on record in favor of giving Japan and Germany permanent seats on the Security Council. But, in the words of U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright, this country wants to be "careful not to sacrifice the council's new-found effectiveness on the altar of reform." If there is a bit of hesitation and uncertainty in this caveat, it is solidly based.If Japan and Germany join the council, would they get the veto power now limited to the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France?