May 30, 1988

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COVER

SPRINGTIME IN MOSCOW

As he squinted against the midday Moscow sun breaking through his windows last week, Tornike Kopaleushvili had the contented smile of a man who is realizing one of his fondest dreams. Last month Kopaleushvili, 48, who spent 26 years working for government-owned restaurants, became chief director of the Upirosmani Restaurant, one of Moscow’s handful of new co-operative dining spots. By Anthony Wilson-Smith12 min

MUSIC

A bracing breeze from Western Canada

Owen Bradley lay awake one night last July, watching a videotape of Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. The legendary 72-year-old record producer, who had worked with such country-music stars as Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, was recuperating at his home outside Nashville from a massive heart attack.

CANADA

Rebirth of the navy

Seventeen years had passed since the last launching of a new Canadian warship. And last week there was a final onehour delay in the christening of the new $350-million, 4,750-ton patrol frigate HMCS Halifax. The government aircraft carrying Mila Mulroney, wife of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, from Ottawa for the Saint John, N.B., ceremony had arrived late.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

A short step toward a showdown

A goal that has evaded North American leaders from Sir John A. Macdonald and President Grover Cleveland to Mackenzie King and Harry Truman moved a step closer to reality last week. The Canada-U.S. free trade accord cleared a major obstacle when two important congressional committees passed a draft version of the American legislation designed to implement the pact.

WORLD/COVER

STYLE, SUBSTANCE AT THE SUMMIT

One is a leader on the brink of retirement, still immensely popular despite his disengaged style and the scandals haunting his administration. The other is in vigorous middle age—with perhaps 20 years of public life ahead of him—and possibly more widely admired abroad than at home. By John Bierman5 min

COVER

TAKING STOCK OF THE WORLD

The new style is a striking departure from tradition. In contrast to their dour, rough-spoken predecessors, modern Soviet diplomats are often urbane, well-tailored, highly educated and fluent in foreign languages. But most remarkable is the message they carry. By MARCUS GEE5 min

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

An alarming vacuum

It was the kind of economic turnaround that should have pushed North American stock prices sharply higher. Last week the U.S. commerce department reported that increased exports had helped lower its merchandise trade deficit to $12 billion in March—its lowest level in three years and a decline of almost $5 billion from February.

AFGHANISTAN

Leaving the war behind

Perched atop an armored personnel carrier decked with flowers, 21-year-old Nikolai Novikov grinned broadly as cheering villagers in the sunbaked town of Termez welcomed him home. The young soldier was the first Soviet to cross the Friendship Bridge over the Amu-Darya River which links war-ravaged Afghanistan with the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan.

ANOTHER VIEW

Measuring car savvy in litres

Everybody needs cars. Without a car on a spring day, it is impossible to enjoy the latest big-city thing to do—which is to drive to a house for sale, stop outside, turn the car radio to the FM frequency advertised on the “For sale” sign and listen to a description of the house. By Charles Gordon5 min

CLOSE-UP: WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST III

Contesting a claim for refugee status

The case provided a perplexing glimpse into the Byzantine world of Canada’s refugee policy. According to a report in Toronto’s Globe and Mail last week, External Affairs Minister Joe Clark urged the immigration department to deny refugee status to a Sikh claimant —even though independent officials declared that Santokh Singh Bagga was a genuine refugee.

May 231988