The US
With "no end in sight" (his words) to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of the Whitewater affair, the balance of President Clinton's term in office may be devoted to answering new charges in the more serious Paula Jones case. Legal opinion considered Ms Jones would drop her case when the claims were dismissed by Federal Judge Susan Webber Wright. But there is still plenty of rightwing money available to pursue the case, the Clintons now know.
Ms Jones is working with her third set of lawyers. Her litigation so far has cost over $1 million. She has no money herself. Her lawyers are bank-rolled by the Rutherford Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, a conservative legal foundation.
Independent Counsel Starr will continue to pursue the Clintons while they occupy the White House, although he is under strong pressure from Democrats in Congress to produce a report on the Whitewater investment matter which is his assignment. When Mrs Hilary Clinton charged that a "right-wing conspiracy" was involved in the Jones case she probably had in mind Mr Richard Scaife's financing of a made-to-measure job for Mr Starr after he had disposed of the Whitewater affair. Mr Scaife finances Pepperdine University in California which established a school for social studies of which Mr Starr would be the first dean.
Mr Starr on Thursday denied any connection with Mr Scaife: "I have never met him. I have never talked to him. I have had no arrangement - implicit, explicit, direct or indirect with him."
Regardless of that, Mr Starr decided that he could not take up the Pepperdine appointment which he would dearly love to do, he admitted.
Mr Scaife is a right-wing scion of the Mellon banking family whose roots are in Tyrone. Mr Starr made his withdrawal as a candidate for the post in Washington, as Ms Jones in Dallas announced that she planned to appeal Judge Wright's decision.
Mr Scaife contributed $2.5 million to a conservative magazine to dig up scandal on Mr Clinton, according to the New York Times.
Mr Starr must decide soon whether to bring criminal charges in the Whitewater matter, or refer the issue to Congress for impeachment proceedings.