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Journalism of Courage
That woman, that dress
Six months after the White House sex-and-lies scandal broke, a mystery garment reportedly stained with evidence of sexual intimacy between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky is again the talk of the town. The dress, according to media accounts on Thursday, was turned over to the independent counsel investigating the affair as part of Lewinsky8217;s deal to be given blanket immunity from prosecution in the case. The speculation is that it could be turned over to a lab for DNA testing which might yield indisputable proof of hanky-panky between the 51-year-old President and the former White House intern. 8220;If there is bodily fluid on the clothing, it would take8230;just a few more days to yield a unique genetic marker,8221; The Washington Post quoted an expert as saying. Reports stating, or at least strongly suggesting, that Lewinsky possessed a dress stained with the semen of the US Commander-in-Chief first surfaced in the days after the scandal broke in January. The dresshowever never materialised there were at least no first-hand reports of dress sightings and when Lewinsky8217;s former lawyer described the theory as ridiculous, the matter quickly subsided.
Tony8217;s doing a Bill
Tony Blair met with derision from Tory and Labour MPs on Thursday when he published a 115-page annual report on the achievements of what he described as a 8220;radical, reforming8221; Government. He launched the report with a speech to ministers and civil servants in Downing Street8217;s Rose Garden, in scenes reminiscent of the US President8217;s State of the Union address. He said he wasembarked on a 8220;quiet revolution8221;.
The annual report was a government, rather than a party, publication and was billed as measuring Labour8217;s manifesto promises against achievement over the year. But the Conservative leader, William Hague, dismissed it as 8220;fiction8221; and the Liberal Democrats called for a properly audited report. Twenty thousand copies of the Government8217;s Annual Report 97/98, which reviews progress on the economy, health, education and other areas, have been printed at a cost of Aring;ldquo;95,000 and are available at Aring;ldquo;5.95 each. A shorter, free version will be distributed to post offices and libraries. Many Labour MPs were supportive but others were sceptical. One Labour MP said: 8220;You did not know they could pile bullshit that high, did you? It is a Ben Nevis of bullshit.8221;
Yeltsin acts tough
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has sacked Yevgeny Yasin, an acting minister without portfolio who was one of the government8217;s longest-serving advisers on economics, the Kremlin announced on Friday.The press service gave no explanation as to why Yasin was sacked except to say he and several other minor cabinet ministers will not be retained in Prime Minister Sergei Kiri-yenko8217;s three-month-old government. Yasin, 64, served as economics minister from November 1994 until April 1997, when he became a minister without portfolio responsible primarily for economic affairs. His sacking comes amid fierce speculation that Yeltsin is about to tinker more significantly with Kiriyenko8217;s government.
Not-so-gay couple
A British lesbian couple who sparked controversy when they used a pickle jar and a syringe to produce two babies have split up, several British newspapers reported on Friday. Dawn Whiting and Lisa Dawson, who inseminated each other with sperm from different donors, are now believed to be living apart. In October 1996, they were wed at a 8220;marriage ceremony8221; performed in a pub by a member of a Christian organisation. They promised in newspaper interviews to provide a stable home for theirchildren. But Whiting, 22, has apparently found a new female partner and Dawson, 25, has reportedly said she wants to get married and have 8220;a traditional family8221;.
