April 30, 1994

The Clinton Administration intervened in foreign exchange markets today to prop up a sagging dollar and faltering investor confidence that was already pushing interest rates higher at home. The Federal Reserve, acting for the Administration, bought dollars and sold yen as the dollar tumbled to near its lowest point against the Japanese currency since World War II. It also sold marks for dollars as the American currency seemed to accelerate its slide against the German currency. The dollar stabilized quickly against the yen and the mark after the intervention.

As the elections that will almost certainly elevate him to the presidency stuttered to a fitful conclusion today, Nelson Mandela laid out a vision of his government as a grand negotiating forum in which every party will have a voice, past crimes will be forgiven and the power of the majority will rarely be used. Rather than a dramatic break with the past, or a frantic first 100 days of presidential activism, Mr. Mandela said in interviews over two days, the first themes of his new presidency would be reconciliation and consensus.

Kathleen Brown was in tears. In a few hours she would announce her candidacy for governor of California, and her brother, Jerry, a former governor himself, had told her that he would not join dozens of other family members at her speech in San Francisco. Mr. Brown resented being trotted before the cameras when his father was Governor and was not about to play a prop again for his younger sister. "I've got my own ideas on how you do these things," he said. "Maybe a little of the schmaltz is all right. But that's not the way I would have done it."

Pope John Paul II underwent a two-hour bone replacement operation in Rome after falling and fracturing his right thigh as he climbed out of his bathtub. Vatican officials said the Pope, 73, was in "excellent" condition but would probably remain in the hospital for three to four weeks.

Israel and the Palestinians signed a sweeping agreement today setting out the terms for economic relations between Israel and the lands coming under Palestinian self-rule while laying the groundwork for the future development of these poor areas. Under the agreement, Palestinians in the West Bank town of Jericho and the Gaza Strip will be able to open their own banks, collect their own taxes and conduct their own exporting and importing -- including such vital goods as oil, which their neighboring Arab allies have promised to provide virtually at cost.