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celebrating an apparent warming in relations , chinese and american officials said today that they expect president_clinton to visit china sometime next year if he is re elected . in return , president jiang_zemin would visit washington . as president_clinton 's national_security adviser , anthony_lake , concluded two days of meetings with china 's top leaders , officials from both countries stressed the positive side of their relationship . no final decisions have yet been made about the timing or location of summit meetings , but the expectation that they will take place at all marks a shift from the recent acrimony . it also underlines a new focus on china by the administration , which has been criticized for inattention to china and a wavering policy . " because of our recent progress , i would expect that there will be an exchange of state visits , " mr . lake said this morning . " we 're glad that the progress we 've made even allowed that discussion to take place . " only a few months ago , the two nations tensed over taiwan , as china lobbed missiles into the sea around the island and the united_states sent warships to patrol nearby . last month china and the united_states slipped to the brink of a trade_war before reaching an agreement . on tuesday , although serious disagreements persist over human_rights violations , taiwan 's future and various trade issues , officials from both sides concentrated on similarities and cooperation . " common interests between china and the united_states are far more numerous than our differences , " said cui tiankai , a foreign ministry spokesman , avoiding the invective that has often colored official comments over the last year . " there is no reason to be pessimistic about the future of bilateral_relations . " the shift follows a sequence of problems that have been , at least in part , solved in recent months the resolution of last month 's trade talks , congress 's decisive vote to renew china 's most favored nation trading status , and the receding of the immediate problems in taiwan . officials also said on tuesday that the united_states had accepted in principle a long standing invitation for vice_president al_gore to attend a conference on sustainable_development in beijing , though no dates have been fixed . mr . lake , the most senior american official to come to china since 1994 , said that he did not achieve any diplomatic breakthroughs , but that he had not expected any . the underlying differences between the united_states and china human_rights and taiwan have not changed in any essential way . " it is very unlikely that one meeting is going to produce a giant step forward , " mr . lake said , referring to human_rights . " this is a long term issue . " yet the main purpose of mr . lake 's visit , as one american official put it , was to construct a bond of " mutual expectation . " for in agreeing to improve ties and to work toward a summit meeting , american and chinese leaders each get what they most want president_clinton can expect the chinese to prevent any diplomatic blow ups before the election in november , and president jiang can play host to his american counterpart in beijing in 1997 , bolstering his position as leaders here prepare for a communist_party congress late next year . two senior american officials , in a briefing for reporters , described mr . lake 's visit as part of a concerted effort to prevent unexpected problems from derailing relations . " the main approach , " said one official , describing mr . lake 's talks , " was the need precisely to anticipate problems , or at least figure out how to manage them jointly , or to contain any damage that might be caused . " american officials have been frustrated by the way american chinese relations have lurched from crisis to crisis , like the arrest of harry_wu , the human_rights activist , last summer , or the maltreatment of orphans in china that was revealed in january . each of those events , coming as a surprise , caused an uproar in the united_states . " security and stability and predictability " was how the official characterized what each side wants . " we 're trying to be based on a little more i do n't want to use the word 'trust' but based on mutual expectation . " mr . lake said much of his discussion addressed how to coordinate long term interests , a topic that one of his aides called " managed competition . " " it 's very important that china understand that the u.s . does want to see china " sharing world leadership , mr . lake said . " that sounds like geo babble it really is n't . " two american officials described mr . lake 's visit as the second round of a budding long term relationship with a chinese counterpart , liu huaqiu , director of the state council 's foreign_affairs office . in march , the officials said , mr . lake met for seven hours with mr . liu at the home of the united states ambassador to france , pamela_harriman , in middleburgh , va . , where they spoke about how to manage the crises at hand taiwan , the chinese shipment to pakistan of ring magnets , which can be used in nuclear_weapons production , and the dispute over intellectual_property_rights . on monday , the american officials said , mr . lake and mr . liu met again for seven hours in a secluded room in a guest house in beijing . after working out the details with his counterpart , mr . lake met on tuesday with president jiang , discussed economic cooperation and trade with prime_minister li_peng , and talked about taiwan with defense minister chi haotian .

an article on monday about contracts held by halliburton , the oil giant , for the reconstruction of iraq 's oil industry misstated the rise in one cost estimate . halliburton 's initial estimate for the repair of the qarmat ali water_treatment plant in southern iraq was 75 . 7 million six weeks later , the bush_administration asked congress for 125 million for the work , an increase of about 65 percent , not 40 percent .

american military preparations in the persian_gulf and a high level diplomatic_mission to the middle_east are aimed at speeding the ouster of president saddam_hussein as well as responding to recent iraqi troop_movements , administration officials said today . the pentagon said today that it was moving up a scheduled training exercise in kuwait to later this month . about 1 , 400 soldiers from the first cavalry division at fort_hood , tex . , will deploy to kuwait , where m1 a1 battle tanks and bradley_fighting_vehicles are in place . the american_troops will join kuwaiti forces for about three weeks of live fire training in the desert . the exercise , which is conducted twice annually , had been scheduled for late october . administration officials said that the military precautions and a mission by two senior american diplomats to jordan , egypt and other middle_east countries are being undertaken in the hope of bringing pressure mr . hussein . " if i were sitting in baghdad that 's what i 'd be thinking , " said one american official who follows iraq . but administration officials said the united_states has no preference for a successor to mr . hussein , and would have little influence even if it did . while the defection of the iraqi leader 's two sons in law to jordan last week certainly damaged his political base , mr . hussein has faced political pressures many times before and survived . " we 're trying to speed the downfall of saddam_hussein , " said phebe marr , a middle_east specialist at the national_defense_university . " but we ca n't go in there and do this . we 're not in a position to pull strings . the only thing we can do is develop an atmosphere . " united_states officials acknowledge they walk a fine line in their attempts to hasten mr . hussein 's ouster without leading to the disintegration of iraq . one goal of the american delegation , which includes assistant secretary of state robert pelletreau and mark parris , the national_security_council 's senior aide on the middle_east , will be to speed a reconciliation between saudi_arabia and jordan , a move that would make it easier for king_hussein to curtail economic links with iraq . american officials said today that the two diplomats had urged jordan to stop accepting supplies of iraqi oil that provides baghdad with hard_currency . it is unclear , however , whether the jordanian leader will agree since amman must rely on iraqi oil shipments because of the king 's rift with saudi_arabia . kuwait and saudi_arabia cut off trade with jordan after the king supported iraq in the persian_gulf_war . after meeting with jordanian officials earlier this week , the american delegation flew to cairo today for talks with egyptian officials . it is expected to travel to the persian gulf_region this weekend . the pentagon 's decision to move up the training exercise by more than a month came after gen . j . h . binford peay 3d , the head of the united_states_central_command , received approval from the kuwaiti prime_minister , sheik saad al abdulla al_sabah , this week . a senior military official said the exercise will start in the next 10 days at camp doha , a training site on the outskirts of kuwait_city . " it takes about a week to draw the equipment , " he said . " we exercise for about three weeks . we take the equipment , wash it down , put it back from whence we got it in its storage facilities and redeploy . so the whole thing takes in the neighborhood of four to six weeks . " the exercise is one of several steps the pentagon has ordered since the iraqi defections . others include sending ships with tanks and equipment for 22 , 000 marines and soldiers to the gulf and moving warships closer to the region . american military officials have expressed growing concern since the defections that a series of " unusual training activities " involving iraqi_army , air defense , special_forces and republican guard units could presage an attack on kuwait and saudi_arabia . two republican guard units , the hammurabi and medina divisions , have been practicing mobilizing their garrisoned forces more effectively , something the forces did poorly last fall when more than 10 , 000 iraqi troops menaced the kuwaiti border before eventually withdrawing . american intelligence officials said today there were only minor changes in the iraqi troop_movements within the last 24 hours . in baghdad today , the top united_nations weapons inspector said iraq had revealed new details about its clandestine weapons program . the official , rolf_ekeus , said sudden cooperation appeared to be linked to the defection of the country 's leading weapons official . mr . hussein earlier threatened to cut off all contact with the united_nations inspectors and send forces into kuwait and saudi_arabia if the united_nations did not lift its sanctions against iraq when they come up for renewal next month .

to the editor re ''clinton enters '08 field , fueling race for money'' ( front page , jan . 21 ) now that senator hillary_rodham_clinton has finally announced , one week after senator barack_obama , the presidential_primaries bode to be more fun and more interesting than the general_election to come . the possibility of mrs . clinton , who could become the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party , squaring off against a charismatic and popular african_american seeking to become the first black president in a field broad enough to include a variety of socially sensitive icons with urgent messages of their own ( john_edwards on poverty , plus joseph r . biden_jr . and christopher j . dodd , among others ) offers the promise of a contest of ideas that will be exciting , edifying and instructive , raising the electoral process to new heights of democratic vitality . meyer rangell lake worth , fla . , jan . 21 , 2007 to the editor back in 1992 when bill clinton ran for president , he talked about his wife , hillary_rodham_clinton , saying that she was an outstanding partner . during the campaign we heard talk of getting ''two for the price of one . '' now that senator clinton is running for president , she , too , can run a ''two for the price of one'' campaign , because her husband is a proven great president . so i 'm glad to see her get into the race , because things were a lot better with the clintons in the white_house . i think it 's time to bring the clintons back . i 'm looking forward to returning to a debate over how we are going to spend the surplus rather than how we are going to stop the deficit . marc perkel san bruno , calif . , jan . 21 , 2007 to the editor as much as i would otherwise like to support hillary_rodham_clinton , i cannot . as a senator , she voted to authorize the invasion of iraq . we have had six years with two more to go of leadership by a president with even poorer judgment than that of herbert hoover . hoover brought us the great depression . george w . bush has brought us the unmitigated condemnation and hatred of much of the world . mrs . clinton supported president_bush 's illegal war in iraq . she must fall because of that huge lapse in her own judgment . ted towles fincastle , va . , jan . 21 , 2007 to the editor when george w . bush leaves office in two years , the office of the president will have been occupied by members of only two families , the bushes and the clintons , for two decades . hillary_rodham_clinton 's candidacy raises the possibility that this situation could be extended into a third decade . this concentration of so much political power into the hands of two families does not reflect well on the health of our democracy or republican government . joseph g . morgan new rochelle , n.y. , jan . 21 , 2007 the writer is an associate professor of history at iona college . to the editor i know that the united_states_of_america is the land of opportunity , but the entrance of so many members of congress into the '08 presidential campaign has me wondering about the policies of the house and the senate . do n't these people have to go to work in the jobs they already hold in congress ? in recent years , many states , including mine , have lost the services of an elected representative as he or she missed votes while seeking higher office . we vote for these men and women to serve a term representing our state in congress . perhaps there are no attendance rules in congress , but do n't they value the contract they have made with their constituency ? apparently not . joan baldwin chapman cheshire , conn . , jan . 21 , 2007 to the editor re ''shushing the baby_boomers'' ( week in review , jan . 21 ) as a baby_boomer born in 1956 who for at least a decade has been sick to death of the self pitying and self aggrandizing claims made by and for the baby_boom generation , i applaud senator barack_obama 's willingness to tell my generation to get over itself . our country has done its best when no generation lorded it over its predecessors or successors . r . b . bernstein new york , jan . 21 , 2007 the writer is an adjunct professor at new york law_school . to the editor someone ought to remind senator barack_obama that it was the boomers' ideological battles of the 1960s that got him to where he is today . we ai n't dead yet , mr . obama . your youthful exuberance may smack of arrogance . stephany yablow north hollywood , calif . jan . 21 , 2007.

lead a consortium of oil companies said friday that it had agreed on a financing package with the canadian government and the government of alberta to proceed with an oil sands project in northern_alberta . a consortium of oil companies said friday that it had agreed on a financing package with the canadian government and the government of alberta to proceed with an oil sands project in northern_alberta . the project is expected to cost about 4 billion ( canadian ) , or 3 . 27 billion ( united_states ) . the agreement came after a year of negotiations between the governments and the consortium of companies , led by a unit of the imperial_oil ltd . of toronto , a subsidiary of the exxon corporation . the development would produce 77 , 000 barrels of crude_oil a day in the mid 1990 's . the development property , 300 miles northeast of edmonton , has bitumen reserves of 28 billion_barrels , which would produce 10 billion_barrels of synthetic light crude oil . the project would need higher oil prices to proceed . consortium officials said the project would be profitable if oil prices rose to 20 to 22 ( united_states ) a barrel .

although secured creditors may seize many office buildings throughout canada under new restructuring plans of olympia york developments ltd . , many analysts believe the immediate impact on the canadian property market could actually be positive . most financial_institutions have been in repossession situations before , though perhaps not to the extent faced with olympia 's collapse , and are well aware that properties cannot be dumped suddenly on a marketplace already rocked by high vacancy_rates and plunging values . they are likely to hire new building managers and put cash_flow to work on maintenance and improvements that have lagged in recent months because of olympia 's desperate financial straits . " the commercial real_estate will be warehoused by the secured creditors , " said alain tuchmaier , analyst with mclean_mccarthy inc . , a toronto investment firm , owned by the deutsche_bank . " i would be very surprised if any substantial properties are sold any time soon . " steve kressler , an analyst with midland walwyn inc . , another toronto investment firm , said , " conceivably , this now could stabilize the situation . " but analysts pointed out that an oversupply could linger for years . conditions have been aggravated recently by the troubles of another big real_estate company , bramalea ltd . , which is part of the edper empire of peter and edward bronfman , cousins of the controlling stockholders of joseph e . seagram sons ltd . , the distillery company . bramalea has sought protection from its creditors as well and now has plans to sell half of a real_estate portfolio worth 6 billion ( canadian ) . olympia formally announced today that it was seeking court approval of the new plan , which for the first time gives creditors the option of taking over the assets that back their loans . under two earlier plans since the company initially won protection from its creditors in an ontario bankruptcy court on may 14 , the creditors would essentially have had to sit tight for five years and hope the real_estate market improved . for olympia 's united_states operation , a deadline to pay 8 million today to the swiss bank was extended until monday to allow for continued negotiations . olympia has balked at making the payment , saying that to do so would place the bank ahead of other creditors . but further steps by the swiss bank to enforce its claim could force olympia 's united_states arm to seek the bankruptcy_protection it has so far avoided . overexpansion in earlier inflationary times , especially the expenditure of billions of dollars on commercial development in london , with minor returns , contributed to the company 's downfall . the london project , called canary_wharf , went into bankruptcy soon after the collapse of the canadian operations and is now in the hands of court appointed accountants . olympia 's new canadian restructuring plan , which is expected to win overwhelming backing from creditors , probably sometime in january , also calls for any properties remaining under olympia 's management to be spun off into a new company called o y properties . reichmanns keep 10 unsecured_creditors would get a 90 percent equity stake . the three reichmann brothers paul , alfred and ralph who had built olympia into the world 's biggest real_estate developer , would retain only 10 percent , but they would keep control of the board . among structures that creditors are likely to seize are the three most prestigious office addresses in toronto first canadian place , scotia plaza and exchange tower as well as such premier sites as esso plaza and shell center in calgary , alberta the esplanade laurier and c . d . howe buildings of ottawa , and the city center building of edmonton , alberta . a lawyer for one of the leading banks , who asked not to be identified , said it was not certain that creditors would immediately foreclose . ownership is likely to change as well in two of canada 's leading industrial companies gulf canada resources ltd . , a big oil company , and abitibi price inc . , a leading newsprint and paper company . shares are pledged the reichmanns control both , but their shares are pledged , and the institutional_investors who hold the collateral would be free to take the shares and offer them on the market . the shares could be sold to the public sometime next year , analysts said . on thursday gulf announced that it had abandoned an offering of 175 million ( canadian ) of new equity in a move believed to be linked to the prospective sales of the reichmann shares . not all details of the new restructuring plan are final . one still unresolved issue is that of reichmann family liability in any future court actions . under the earlier plans the reichmanns were released from personal liability stemming from the decline of their empire . according to a recent article in the wall_street_journal , the reichmann family fortune is still more than 400 million . but an olympia spokesman challenged the figure as " grossly overestimated . " correction november 28 , 1992 , saturday an article in business day last saturday about problems in the canadian real_estate market misstated the status of bramalea ltd . although a small subsidiary of that real_estate developer has sought court protection from its creditors , the parent company is still working with its lenders on a restructuring plan outside the courts .

for japan 's banks , 1995 was the year of the 150 billion reckoning . when the nation 's banks announce their 1995 results on friday and monday , the aggregate losses about 30 billion will probably represent the largest amount of red ink ever to flow at one time from any banking industry in the world . by setting aside reserves of 150 billion against unrecoverable debt , japan 's banks are finally admitting in public that they must atone for the financial excesses of the 1980 's . yet , in some ways , the only thing that has happened is fancy accounting . in the real world , the banks' moves have hardly made a difference . that 's because the crux of the problem is the real assets the collateral for the roughly 400 billion in bad_debts . most of those assets will remain virtually untouched by the accounting move . in contrast , the banks are for the moment enjoying a great deal of support from the government . most likely , a good deal of the bad debt provisions can be taken as tax deductions , according to an official at the national tax administration , lowering their tax liabilities on the year 's record operating profits . even though the banks take provisions for unrecoverable debt , the bad_loans remain on their books , and the distressed property borrowers are still obliged to repay . some analysts say that one of the biggest problems in the debt crisis is that the banks are not doing what they need to do , namely , take over the office buildings , the restaurants , the store outlets , the parking_garages that are the collateral and resell them to get the loans off their books . " it 's a book entry in one case and a real world problem in another , " said david threadgold , a banking analyst at barclays dezoete wedd research ltd . " someone in an office in marunouchi or otemachi who makes a book entry does not have the potential to change the real market for real assets . " in part , the parliament , the public and the ministry of finance have been distracted from the property problem , instead focusing their attention on the bank headquarters in the marunouchi and otemachi districts of tokyo . the banks' top officials have come under pressure from the finance ministry to step down . at the same time the banks are trying to rationalize and revamp their operations and improve their profitability to improve their lagging international ratings . moody 's investors service recently issued a critical assessment of the financial industry , suggesting that there are likely to be more financial failures . in the last year , japan has seen five financial_institutions go bankrupt , with a few bank runs . moreover , everyone has been absorbed in recent months by the drama of liquidating japan 's mortgage companies , which have become a symbol for the nation 's debt debacle . in particular , the public seems to be so outraged at a liquidation plan to use 6 . 5 billion in taxpayers' money initially that new questions have arisen about the prospect of pouring in more public funds . in many ways , the focus on the bad debt write_offs and the disposal of the mortgage companies , called jusen , has helped mask the real economic problem that gave rise to the bad_loans the stagnant real_estate industry and the enormous drag it imposes on the economy . " the real_estate issue is the key to putting japan 's financial system back on its " feet , said arthur m . mitchell , a lawyer at chadbourne parke , who has worked on real_estate problems both in the united_states and in japan . " if they fail to fix this , the system will not work . " mr . mitchell noted that in the united_states , little headway was made in solving the debt crisis at savings and loan associations until the resolution_trust_corporation forced banks to foreclose on properties and auction them off . although banks are beginning to foreclose on some properties , refinancing some distressed borrowers or redeveloping properties , japanese officials say that japan is unlikely to follow the american path toward resolution . one main obstacle is that japan 's real_estate market remains in a slump . so banks are hesitant to dump properties on the market and further depress prices . " in your country , the r.t.c . sold collateral at a discounted_rate , which resulted in a huge amount of public funds being injected , " said sei_nakai , senior banking official at the finance ministry . " the japanese banks do n't like to follow that policy . " even if the banks wanted to auction off properties , the move would entail a lengthy court process to obtain title . the courts also influence the prices at auctions , which makes the entire process less attractive to banks . so , as mr . nakai says , the banks and the banking officials may prefer simply to wait for the economy to pick up and for land prices to rise so that they can recover some of their loans . international business.

senior iraqi and american officials are beginning to question whether prime_minister_nuri_kamal_al_maliki has the political muscle and decisiveness to hold iraq together as it hovers on the edge of a full civil_war . four months into his tenure , mr . maliki has failed to take aggressive steps to end the country 's sectarian_strife because they would alienate fundamentalist shiite leaders inside his fractious government who have large followings and private armies , senior iraqi politicians and western officials say . he is also constrained by the need to woo militant sunni arabs connected to the insurgency . patience among iraqis is wearing thin . many complain that they have seen no improvement in security , the economy or basic services like electricity . some sunni arab neighborhoods seem particularly deprived , fueling distrust of the shiite led government . concerns about the toughness of the new government seemed reflected in president_bush 's comments when he met tuesday with iraq 's president , jalal_talabani . mr . bush said he wanted iraqis to know ''that the united_states_of_america stands with them , so long as the government continues to make the tough choices necessary for peace to prevail . '' mr . maliki , a conservative shiite , took office in may . a senior american diplomat here said the white_house still had confidence in him , mainly because ''he has articulated goals for iraq that make sense to us . '' bush_administration officials have repeatedly cautioned that mr . maliki needs more time . ''this is a national_unity_government of many , many moving parts , '' said the diplomat , who spoke on condition of anonymity . ''he has got to negotiate as he goes . '' but diplomats who deal with the bush_administration on iraq issues , and recently departed officials who stay in contact with their colleagues in the government , say the president 's top advisers have a far more pessimistic view . ''the thing you hear the most is that he never makes any decisions , '' said a former senior official , who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal deliberations . ''and that drives bush crazy . he does n't take well to anyone who talks about getting something accomplished and then refuses to take the first step . '' american officials here say they do not intend to let mr . maliki fail and are helping him in a variety of ways . for example , to bolster iraqis' confidence , american generals are spending money on quick reconstruction projects like trash pickup as the military goes through troubled neighborhoods of baghdad . the embassy has advisers who work closely with cabinet ministers and has deployed hundreds of americans to seven provinces to help iraqi officials build up the government 's political and economic strength . a senior envoy said the biggest effort was simply ''diplomacy 101'' insisting to iraqi leaders that they resolve their differences . but increasingly , iraqi and western officials say the unity government is one in name only , with the political_parties representing different sects and ethnicities constantly at odds , undermining mr . maliki 's ability to build consensus . while the united_states has military might and political influence , it must rely on the iraqi government to reach out to the country 's political and religious leaders . trying to placate everyone has kept mr . maliki from being able to offer amnesty to sunni insurgents or forcefully disarm shiite_militias , officials say . the main shiite_bloc itself is deeply divided , depriving the prime_minister of crucial support . so he relies on moktada_al_sadr , the shiite_cleric who commands the powerful militia called the mahdi army , for political backing . the militia has been blamed by many sunni arabs for sectarian_killings . to ensure that the minority sunni arabs remain involved in the government , mr . maliki finds himself compromising on issues like cabinet appointments with conservative sunni parties that have occasional contact with nationalist guerrillas . ''i think he has said good things , but in practice there has been no change , '' said mahmoud_othman , an independent kurdish legislator . ''the security situation is deteriorating and violence is getting worse . he has done nothing against militias . at the same time , the reconciliation dialogue is not moving forward . it does n't look good , the prospects for the government . ''i thought he 'd be stronger , but he looks weak , '' mr . othman said . ''he feels frustrated because nobody 's cooperating with him . '' the same sentiments are heard in the streets of the capital . ''there 's no security , no job opportunities , no services , nothing at all , '' said muhammad jabar abdul ridha , 18 , a construction_worker walking through downtown baghdad on tuesday afternoon . ''this government has n't done anything better than the previous one . '' while some officials in washington say mr . bush and secretary of state condoleezza_rice still insist in staff meetings that mr . maliki must be given more time and support , there is a growing sense that he is not about to change his operating style . a former senior official said the big test would be whether mr . maliki could confront mr . sadr . ''if you do n't do that , i do n't know how he can succeed , '' the official said . the prime_minister 's aides declined repeated requests for an interview with mr . maliki , who emerged as a compromise choice for prime_minister during a power struggle last spring in which the white_house and mr . sadr backed different candidates . supporters of mr . maliki say it is too soon to judge his tenure . any unity government requires compromises , they argue . ''he 's been in office only a short time , and the size and number of problems from the former regime and former cabinets are huge , '' said sheik khalid_al attiya , a deputy speaker of parliament . mr . maliki has made efforts to quell the sunni led insurgency , including reaching out to some sunni arab guerrilla groups , iraqi officials say . that may help widen a rift in the insurgency between iraqi nationalists and foreign_fighters . sheiks in rebellious anbar_province announced last sunday that 25 of 31 tribes in the province were ready to fight against al_qaeda in mesopotamia . iraqi and american officials who have dealt with mr . maliki say he is much more blunt and expressive in meetings than his predecessor as prime_minister , ibrahim_al_jaafari , who leads mr . maliki 's political_party . mr . maliki is not given to diplomatic formalities and makes his views known , they say . at the same time , he likes to listen to a range of opinion often at the expense of making decisions , the officials say . mr . maliki acts as if he is backed into a corner these days , said a moderate legislator who recently spent two and a half hours in a private meeting with him . ''you were one of the hawks , '' the legislator recalled telling mr . maliki . ''now you 're one of the doves . '' ''no , i 'm still one of the hawks , '' the legislator quoted the prime_minister as saying . ''i just need time . '' mr . maliki 's security plan for baghdad , now the american military 's main effort of the war , intentionally avoids direct confrontation with mr . sadr 's militia , despite iraqi_army generals' apparent willingness to attack the militia and despite growing violence by rogue militia elements . the plan , begun last month after an initial failed effort in june , involves military sweeps of violent neighborhoods , generally after fighters have already fled . the murder rate has dropped in some neighborhoods . but the plan 's effectiveness was called into question last week , when more than 165 bodies were found across baghdad in four days . shiite_militiamen are the main suspects . the baghdad morgue has said more than 1 , 500 civilians were killed in august , a 17 percent drop from july but higher than nearly all other months of the war . brig . gen . dana j . h . pittard , assigned to help train iraqi_police and army units , said iraqi_army commanders , who usually have fewer sectarian loyalties than the police , were ready to take on the militias but had not gotten approval from the government . ''there 's this obvious question that the army guys are asking , about 'when are we going to get rid of the militias ? ' '' general pittard said in an interview while meeting with american military advisers at a base in taji . ''if you talk to the leaders of the iraqi_army , they 'll say , 'we need to be given an order to disarm the militias . ' '' last month , after american and iraqi soldiers attacked a militia safe_house in the sadr_city neighborhood of baghdad , the prime_minister denounced the action and promised compensation to families of iraqis killed or wounded in the assault . lt . gen . peter w . chiarelli , the second ranking commander in iraq , said american and iraqi generals were waiting for mr . maliki to find a political solution to the militias . ''how long will that process take ? '' he said . ''i do n't know . '' mr . maliki has little obvious leverage over mr . sadr , who controls at least 30 seats in parliament and six ministries , making him one of the most powerful figures in the government . mr . sadr has no intention of disbanding the mahdi army , because it is now part of the government , said bahaa al_aaraji , a senior legislator allied with him . ''they are just volunteers defending their country , '' mr . aaraji said . mr . maliki is also tiptoeing around other powerful shiite leaders with militias . abdul_aziz_al_hakim , the head of the parliament 's shiite_bloc , has ignited a political firestorm by calling for the legislature to approve a mechanism to create autonomous_regions . many are opposed , and the move threatens to splinter the government . but rather than rein mr . hakim in , mr . maliki has kept quiet . as a centerpiece of his reconciliation project to end the sunni insurgency , mr . maliki wants to forge an amnesty policy that would draw into politics some militant sunni arabs and former officials from saddam_hussein 's baath_party , iraqi politicians say . but the proposal has been attacked by hard line shiites like mr . hakim , who is opposed to leniency for killers of iraqis , and american politicians outraged at the idea of amnesty for those who have attacked american_troops . that could doom mr . maliki 's plan , said ayad jamaladin , a moderate shiite legislator on the government 's reconciliation committee . ''innocent people do n't need amnesty , '' he said . ''guilty people need amnesty . '' some conservative sunni leaders are also resisting mr . maliki 's efforts . politicians in baghdad and tribal_sheiks in restive areas insist that he meet a long list of demands that includes releasing all detainees and setting a timetable for the withdrawal of american_troops . many sunnis also fear that mr . maliki is beholden to iran , and his trip there last week further stirred concerns . ''with whom should we reconcile ? '' asked sheik muhammad saleh al bajari , a spokesman for tribes in falluja , the sunni arab stronghold . ''with those who brought the occupier and killed and destroyed the future of this country ? ''

treasury_financings this week include today 's regular weekly auction of three and six month bills , which will be followed by an auction of a seven year note on wednesday . traders said that by the close of the new york cash market on friday , the rate on the three month bill outstanding was at 3 . 04 percent and on a six month bill , 3 . 19 percent . and in when issued trading , the seven year note was being offered at a price to yield 7 . 46 percent . among government agencies issuing debt this week , a 600 million financing by the student_loan marketing association is expected to be priced today . the deal includes short term floating_rate_notes that mature july 8 . the following fixed_income issues are scheduled for this week taxable monday gte california , 150 million of first mortgage bonds due 1998 , aa 3 aa aa . competitive . western massachusetts electric , 60 million of first mortgage bonds due 2000 , baa 1 bbb bbb . competitive . one day during the week bally 's health and tennis corp . , 200 million of senior subordinated notes due 2003 , b 3 b b . merrill_lynch . oriole homes corp . , 70 million of senior notes due 2003 . b_2 b . texas utilities , 4 million shares of 25 cumulative preferred , baa 3 bbb bbb . merrill_lynch . union electric , 330 , 000 shares of 100 cumulative perpetual preferred , a 1 a a . goldman , sachs . source_mcm_corporatewatch ratings moody 's s . p . duff_phelps . tax exempt monday king_county , wash . , 106 . 8 million of various purpose and refunding general obligation bonds . competitive . tuesday lincoln , neb . , school_district no . 1 , 54 . 5 million of general obligation improvement bonds . competitive . wednesday los_angeles municipal improvement corp . , 65 . 5 million of leasehold and refunding_revenue_bonds . competitive . maryland , 130 million of general obligation bonds . competitive . one day during the week district of columbia , 83 . 8 million of certificates of participation . paine_webber . hinsdale hospital , ill . , 61 million of debt securities . first boston . huron valley school_district , mich . , 57 . 4 million of refunding general obligation bonds ( unlimited tax ) . a.g . edwards . mercer county , n.d. , 112 . 75 million of pollution control refunding_revenue_bonds for the basin electric power cooperative 's antelope valley station . morgan_stanley . montgomery_county , pa . , 75 million of debt for abington memorial hospital . paine_webber . indiana municipal_bond bank , 100 million of debt securities . bear , stearns . new york state energy research development authority , 100 million of debt securities for long_island lighting co . lehman_brothers . north central health facilities , texas , 60 million of debt securities for children 's hospital . merrill_lynch . north_carolina eastern municipal power authority , 1 . 6 billion of power system revenue bonds . smith_barney , harris_upham . ohio building authority , 110 million of refunding_bonds for state correctional and state facilities . bear , stearns . orange_county , fla . , health facilities , orlando regional medical center , 111 million of revenue bonds . lehman_brothers . sam rayburn municipal power agency , tex . , 164 . 6 million of power supply refunding_revenue_bonds . paine_webber . south central_connecticut regional water authority , 212 million of revenue and refunding_bonds . goldman , sachs . texas health facilities development authority , 70 million of hospital revenue bonds for the all saints episcopal hospital of fort_worth . goldman , sachs . texas veterans housing , 125 million of general obligation bonds . first boston . wisconsin health and educational facilities authority , 100 million of revenue bonds for sisters of the sorrowful mother ministry corp . , milwaukee . merrill_lynch .

many customers of health maintenance organizations say they believe that half of their premiums go toward h.m.o . expenses and profit rather than medical care , according to a poll sponsored by a health_insurance provider . the poll , conducted by zogby international from sept . 16 to sept . 21 , surveyed 802 bluecross blueshield customers in upstate new york . the average respondent said 26 . 8 percent of premiums was spent on business expenses , 23 . 7 percent became profit , and only 49 . 5 percent of premiums was spent on medical care . excellus inc . , which runs bluecross upstate and sponsored the poll , said it spent 90 percent of premiums on medical care . hope reeves ( nyt )

lead thousands of students marched through shanghai today , in the first indication that china 's pro_democracy movement had spread in a major way to the nation 's largest city and economic capital . thousands of students marched through shanghai today , in the first indication that china 's pro_democracy movement had spread in a major way to the nation 's largest city and economic capital . about 6 , 000 university students took part in the pro_democracy march , the official new china news_agency said , and some witnesses put the number at about 10 , 000 . while demonstrations have taken place in shanghai on several previous occasions in the last two weeks , they never attracted more than a few thousand marchers . the march today , while consisting only of students , was far better organized than before and attracted much more support , witnesses said . the march was significant not only because of shanghai 's size and historic ability to influence the rest of the country , but also because everyone remembers that two years ago it was in shanghai , after a lag , that the student demonstrations were largest . effort to keep workers away those demonstrations in december 1986 and the beginning of january 1987 attracted tens of thousands of students and were starting to draw support from workers when the government cracked down and imposed a campaign against ''bourgeois liberalization , '' like western democratic influences . in a sign of the government 's apprehension that workers would again take part , officials allowed the marchers today to go to their destination , people 's park , but refused to let anyone in the park who did not have student identification . diplomats in shanghai said the move appeared to be an attempt to keep workers from taking part . diplomats also said that in recent weeks shanghai has sent hundreds of thousands of people out of the city , apparently to keep them from joining in any unrest . those sent away were from the ''floating population'' of peasants who went to shanghai illegally to look for work . until the mass eviction , at least 2 million of shanghai 's 14 . 5 million residents were members of the floating population , and because they are often young and unemployed without local family_ties , the government has been worried about the possibility of their provoking unrest . ''this is taking place against the background of extremely high popular discontent , and the authorities are worried about the possibility of a social explosion , '' said a diplomat reached by telephone in shanghai . calls for press_freedom the shanghai students carried placards calling for more democracy , and particularly freedom of the press . the issue has been sensitive there because the editor of the shanghai based world economic herald was dismissed last week by shanghai 's communist_party leader , presumably acting on orders from beijing . the newspaper was not owned or run by the communist_party , so many intellectuals have complained that the party had no authority to dismiss the editor and reorganize the publication . the diplomat said another poster read ''we must answer the call of beijing , '' and seemed to reflect a certain amount of concern that shanghai students after setting the pace of student unrest in 1986 were being far outdistanced on this occasion by students in the capital . another diplomat in shanghai said much of the inspiration and planning of the demonstration today seemed to come from a team of beijing_university students who arrived recently in shanghai to exchange ideas about how to spread the pro_democracy campaign . the authorities in shanghai have issued repeated warnings to try to discourage student unrest , and a foreign resident of the city said that students at the shanghai foreign languages school had been warned that if they took part in demonstrations they would not be given a passport allowing them to go abroad , a dream that many chinese students cherish . other demonstrations in addition to beijing and shanghai , student demonstrations have occurred in the last two weeks in most other major cities in china , including tianjin , changsha , xian , wuhan , chengdu and nanjing . but none have come close to the scale of the protests in the capital , which have drawn more than 150 , 000 demonstrators at their peak . in beijing today , student leaders gave a 24 hour ultimatum to the government to approve their conditions for talks , and warned of demonstrations on thursday if the government did not agree . about 70 student leaders rode their bicycles together to several government and party offices to deliver letters outlining their demands . the letter was a response to the government 's announcement last week that it would enter into a ' 'dialogue'' with the students . since then , government officials have held three of these dialogues with students , and some delicate issues have come up . but most students appear dissatisfied . they complain that the students whom the government chose to take part are mostly friendly to the communist_party , and that the government edited the videotape of the first dialogue before showing it on national television . of the 12 student conditions for talks , the three most crucial were that the students themselves choose their representatives , that the talks be broadcast uncensored on national television and that the government be represented by officials at the level of deputy prime_minister or politburo member .

there can be little doubt about it . hillary_rodham_clinton is getting around the state . in just the last week , mrs . clinton visited a dairy farm in wyoming county , n.y. , talking about agriculture policy to the strains of mooing cows in the background . she spoke to a group of democrats at a luncheon in penn yan , a town of about 3 , 000 in the finger lakes region , telling them about her vision of the upstate economy and confessing her first experience hunting ducks . and she stood on the stage at alfred university , in allegany county , to be inducted into omicron delta kappa , a national leadership honor_society . for those who might have questioned how fully or comfortably the first lady of the united_states would immerse herself in the minutiae of a statewide senate campaign , the answer can be found in the schedule mrs . clinton has been keeping over the last few weeks . indeed , she seems to be in every corner of new york , from hamlets to large cities . by the time she left an appearance at a high_school in watkins glen , in schuyler county , on thursday , mrs . clinton had visited 58 of the state 's 62 counties . and , in a point she underscored several times last week , she has every intention of visiting the remaining four counties in the next few weeks . the first lady 's campaign schedule signals a significant shift from her earlier forays into new york state politics , when her events were carefully choreographed with little spontaneous interchange between mrs . clinton and voters . these days , mrs . clinton is spending significantly more time interacting with voters , taking time to shake hands , pose for pictures , sign autographs and talk with people . for example , after an hourlong , nationally_televised town_hall_meeting in buffalo last week , mrs . clinton spent nearly another hour taking more questions from the audience and shaking hands . mrs . clinton insists that her campaign style is unchanged from the early days of her ''listening tour , '' when she spoke to relatively small groups and rarely plunged into crowds . ''i do n't feel like i 'm doing anything differently , '' she said in an interview last week . ''i thought i spent a lot of time back in the listening tour . but i was trying to cover a lot of ground , so i did n't have , perhaps , as much time in my schedule . '' discussing her campaign schedule , she said ''i 'm doing what i said i would do when i started i 'm meeting as many new yorkers as i possibly can meet and going to every county . i 'm going into a lot of different settings to see where people live and work , and i 'm having an absolutely wonderful time . '' still , mrs . clinton seems less inclined to engage in regular question and answer periods with the news_media , unlike her republican rival , mayor rudolph w . giuliani , who typically conducts a news conference every day . her schedule and campaign style seem intent on making voters comfortable with the notion that a woman who has never held public office and who , until recent months , had never even lived in the state is nonetheless a fitting choice to be united_states_senator . moreover , her frequent trips many from dawn to late into the night are also intended to provide a sharp contrast to mr . giuliani , who has largely remained in new york city during the last few months . mr . giuliani , who revealed on thursday that he has prostate_cancer , traveled this weekend to buffalo , for a meeting of the independence party , and to saratoga_springs , for a republican dinner . his aides suggest that mrs . clinton is able to travel the state freely since she is unencumbered by the responsibilities of running a city or anything else for that matter . ''a year ago , mrs . clinton was at 57 percent in the polls , '' said juleanna glover weiss , a spokeswoman for mr . giuliani 's campaign . ''she is now approaching going to every county in the state . it seems that the more people see her , the less they like her , given her rapid decline in poll numbers in the last year . '' but a recent new york times_cbs_news_poll showed mrs . clinton was 8 points ahead of mr . giuliani over all and even with him upstate . the extent to which her numerous trips produce dividends at the polls in november remains to be seen , of course . many in the crowds she attracts are undoubtedly motivated by the novelty of seeing the wife of the president . ''it 's pretty exciting , '' said debra almeter , who operates a large dairy farm in strykersville with her husband and went to see mrs . clinton at a campaign stop last week in wyoming county . ''i 'm not a very political person . but how often does a first lady come out here ? '' that seems to be a common reaction to mrs . clinton . ''no candidate ever , ever comes here . ever . ever , '' barbara steinwachs said after mrs . clinton 's speech in penn yan . ms . steinwachs , an independent training consultant and the democratic_party chairwoman in yates county said ''people are thrilled . and to have it to be the first lady makes it even more thrilling . i think people are impressed just that she came . '' indeed , many of the people who come to see mrs . clinton particularly in small communities in western new york are registered republicans who say they have no intention of voting for a democratic candidate . but it is mrs . clinton 's strategy , her aides say , that by going to as many cities as her schedule allows , as frequently as possible , she will become a political figure that voters are increasingly comfortable with . visiting upstate communities and discussing the details of , say , milk prices or high air fares , her aides suggest , mrs . clinton is likely to chip away at what is perceived to be mr . giuliani 's political strength . and it is clear that mrs . clinton continues to elicit strong passions from new yorkers . on the road to alfred university , last week , for example , several huge banners were placed along the highway , saying ''go home hillary'' and ''stand by your man in arkansas . '' on the other hand , her very appearance on the stage in the college auditorium produced wild cheers . at one point last week , mrs . clinton spent time in the early morning hours looking at the middle falls , a picturesque waterfall in letchworth state park in wyoming county . ''it 's beautiful , '' she said to an entourage of reporters traveling with her . ''have you ever seen this sight before ? '' most of the reporters responded that they had not . ''well , you travel with me , '' she said , ''and you see new york . ''

just two weeks before they were to go on trial , two former top executives of computer associates international , the once booming software company , pleaded_guilty yesterday to eight counts each of securities_fraud and obstruction of justice in federal district court in brooklyn . sanjay kumar , the former chief executive of computer associates , and stephen richards , the company 's former top salesman , confessed to a wide_ranging conspiracy to inflate the company 's sales in 1999 and 2000 and interfere with the subsequent federal inquiry the men repeatedly lied to their own lawyers and to federal investigators , according to the indictment , which also said that mr . kumar even authorized paying 3 . 7 million to buy the silence of a potential witness . the pleas came in a two hour hearing yesterday afternoon before judge i . leo glasser . the men had maintained their innocence for years and had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges , which carry prison terms of as much as 20 years apiece . ''i take full responsibility for my actions , and i apologize , '' mr . kumar said in a firm voice . mr . richards made his plea a few minutes later . with 15 , 000 employees worldwide , computer associates , now known as ca inc . and now the world 's fifth largest software provider , is among the highest profile companies based on long_island . mr . kumar owns the new york islanders hockey team with charles b . wang , the company 's founder and former chairman . since 2004 , when mr . kumar resigned as chief executive , ca has replaced almost its entire senior management team . the pleas appear to cap a four year investigation of ca that prosecutors have said began with a new york times article in april 2001 about accounting irregularities at the company . while the investigation began slowly , in part because of the obstruction led by mr . kumar , it steadily gained momentum in 2004 and last year , investigators said . the obstruction of justice charges carry maximum prison sentences of up to 20 years each , while the fraud charges carry maximum sentences of 5 to 10 years each . prosecutors declined to comment on the length of the sentence mr . kumar and mr . richards might receive , but said the men had not been promised leniency in return for the plea . sentencing is scheduled for sept . 12 . mr . kumar , 44 , appeared to have risen to the top of american business in 2000 , when mr . wang promoted him to be computer associates' chief executive . as executives , both men were known for their aggressive styles , which led many customers and employees of computer associates to complain about the company 's hard edged negotiating tactics . computer associates is not well known among consumers , but big corporations depend on its software to manage their computer systems and networks . as computer associates' stock soared during the 1990 's , mr . kumar grew rich . in 1998 , he received a 330 million bonus , one of the largest paydays ever for an american executive . but in mid 2000 , the company reported an earnings shortfall that caused its stock to plunge 43 percent in a day . its sales and profits have never recovered . now , mr . kumar has admitted that at least part of the growth that the company reported in the 1990 's was a mirage . the indictment focuses on the backdating of sales contracts , which enabled computer associates to meet analysts' forecasts in late 1999 and early 2000 . the indictment also mentions sham sales reported by the company . ca shares closed yesterday at 25 . 51 , down 25 cents . the price is down about two thirds from its high of 75 in january 2000 . the company reported 3 . 5 billion in sales last year , compared with 6 . 1 billion in 2000 . even after the federal investigation began early in 2002 , mr . kumar 's position appeared to be impregnable . in august 2002 , mr . wang stepped down as chairman and mr . kumar succeeded him . of the top executives at computer associates in the late 1990 's , only mr . wang has not been indicted , and prosecutors have never publicly mentioned mr . wang as a focus of their investigation . the statute of limitations for securities_fraud is five years , so mr . wang cannot be prosecuted for any of computer associates' actions before april 2001 . in april 2004 , the investigation gained momentum as three other former senior executives , including ira zar , the chief_financial_officer , pleaded_guilty to charges in the case . those men are awaiting sentencing . a week after their pleas , mr . kumar resigned as chairman and chief executive . as late as last friday , the government brought a new indictment , charging thomas m . bennett , a former computer associates executive , with spending 3 . 7 million of company money in 2003 to bribe a potential witness in the investigation . mr . kumar directed mr . bennett 's actions , according to the indictment . as the trial approached and they saw the extent of the government 's case , mr . kumar and mr . richards might have decided they had no choice but to plead_guilty and hope for the best , lawyers close to the investigation said . by pleading_guilty , the men spare the government the expense of a trial , and judge glasser may look favorably upon the contrition they expressed yesterday . lawyers for mr . kumar and mr . richards declined to comment . mr . kumar said through a spokesman that he ''is now focused on helping his family get through this difficult period . '' former employees have said that during the late 1990 's , computer associates engaged in many tricks to inflate its sales and profits , including booking sham sales and backdating contracts . in their pleas , mr . kumar and mr . richards admitted backdating contracts , and the indictment and other supporting evidence refer to repeated sham sales . the securities_and_exchange_commission , the federal_bureau_of_investigation and prosecutors worked jointly on the investigation . five former senior executives at computer associates have now pleaded_guilty , and the company has paid 225 million to a shareholder restitution fund . ''the guilty_pleas today of computer associates' former c.e.o . and its former head of worldwide sales are the culmination of the government 's successful investigation , '' said roslynn r . mauskopf , the united_states_attorney for the eastern district of new york , which includes long_island . prosecutors did not promise mr . kumar or mr . richards leniency in return for the guilty_plea , said eric komitee , deputy chief of business and securities_fraud for the united_states_attorney 's office . ''there is no agreement of any kind , '' mr . komitee said . ''the defendants simply pleaded to the indictment . ''

lead mayor koch , frustrated by the refusal of local television stations to air most of new york city 's paid advertising on aids prevention , yesterday called for public and federal regulatory pressure on the stations to run the commercials free . mayor koch , frustrated by the refusal of local television stations to air most of new york city 's paid advertising on aids prevention , yesterday called for public and federal regulatory pressure on the stations to run the commercials free . accusing the stations of ''censorship'' that endangers lives , mr . koch urged that the federal communications commission require stations to run the advertisements . several municipal officials from around the nation , meeting here at a conference called by the mayor on the aids epidemic , adopted a resolution in support of his position . the agency does not have the authority to require stations to carry public service announcements , according to its assistant chief of enforcement , mary catherine kilday . ''to order a broadcaster to carry anything , '' she said , ''we would have to have congressional action . '' at the conference , the local officials also called on the federal_government to shoulder the rising costs of aids , which they predicted would reach catastrophic levels . 'a national responsibility' mayor koch estimated that aids costs would reach 100 billion nationally by 1991 , a projection that representative benjamin a . gilman , republican of middletown , n.y. , called ''conservative . '' mr . koch added , ''you ca n't ask a city to deal with a plague it is a national responsibility . '' mr . koch also warned that , without federal aid , municipalities would be forced to reduce essential services to an ''unacceptable'' level . representative charles b . rangel , democrat of manhattan , who helped host the conference , said that ''aids threatens to bankrupt our health and social_welfare systems , systems that are already strained to the breaking point . '' a representative of the national association of counties , dorothy kearns , said the aids epidemic ''is growing even in the most rural counties . the funding problems are staggering . '' one baby 's story in a poignant case illustrating both the human side and the financial burden of aids , a pediatrician , elaine abrams , told the conference about jimmy , who was born in harlem_hospital on christmas 1985 . jimmy has been there ever since , abandoned by his mother upon his being diagnosed with aids . although jimmy 's prospects are dim , dr . abrams and other hospital employees cuddle and play with him on their own time . she said the cost of his care so far is nearly 500 , 000 . the conferees adopted resolutions calling for federal action to stop illegal drugs , to increase treatment programs for addicts and to create more aids prevention programs in minority_group areas and more aids education programs in the public schools . they also called for accelerated research for a cure and a vaccine , wider availability of experimental medications , extension of federal medicare coverage , the elimination of the two year waiting period for medicare eligibility , voluntary and confidential testing , housing and hospices and a national anti discrimination law . the two day session was attended by richard berkley , mayor of kansas_city , mo . , and head of the national conference of mayors , and mayors kathryn j . whitmire of houston , dante carpenter of hawaii county , hawaii , baltasar corrada del rio of san_juan , p.r. , and several others . but most of the nation 's largest cities , and those with the highest aids caseloads , did not send representatives san_francisco , los angelese , miami , boston , chicago , philadelphia , washington , baltimore , newark and detroit . several mayors who had planned to attend canceled because of other demands on their time , mr . koch 's staff said . the mayor said that the attendance 18 municipalities out of 100 invited was ' 'really not important . '' he said the other cities are likely to support the resolutions and that the outcome of the conference ''was quite good . ''

politicians often embrace term_limits when they are running for office , stirring voters with bold talk of reform and the need to regularly rotate the reins of power . but living with term_limits is often far more difficult . senate republicans are the latest to have to reconcile their past passion for term_limits and the present possibility of surrendering their jobs . facing a call to hold senior committee members to a total of six years as the top republican on their panels and open the hearing room doors to new blood , senators said today that they had thought it over carefully and had finally decided to give themselves a bit of a break . under a plan they approved today republican senators can serve a maximum of six years as chairman of any committee , but time as the ranking minority member will not cut into that six years . as a result , some republicans whose tenure as chairmen was rudely interrupted last year when senator james m . jeffords of vermont left their party can reassume their positions should the republicans regain the senate in november or later . the issue was so sensitive that republicans voted by secret_ballot during a closed meeting of their party conference , so even the senators who attended cannot be certain who voted to place their own ambitions ahead of sacred seniority . ''members decided what they thought was in the best interest for the conference and themselves , '' said senator rick_santorum , a pennsylvania republican who was one of those promoting term_limits when senate republicans agreed in 1995 to put limits in place beginning in 1997 . senator arlen_specter of pennsylvania forced the issue this week . he stirred unrest by calling for interpretation of the old rule change as meaning a total of six years , counting time served as either the chairman or ranking member . that would result this year in a senator like orrin g . hatch of utah coming to the end of his reign as senior republican on the judiciary committee although he had been chairman for only four years . mr . specter , not coincidentally , would then be in line to take the top republican spot on the panel next year . the proposal was easily defeated , but a proposal by senator gordon smith of washington to abolish term_limits entirely also lost . the plan adopted was offered by senator robert bennett of utah , who proposed retaining the six year limit as chairman , with a corresponding six years as ranking member not counted against the chairmanship tenure . senators who serve a full chairman term , however , cannot take ranking status later . the compromise passed on a 32 14 vote . senator larry e . craig , a member of the republican leadership , said he thought it was a good middle ground ''that still allowed young members within the conference an opportunity to serve . '' senator john_mccain of arizona said , ''everyone ought to have a chance to be chairman . '' politicians have had difficulty putting into practice limits that looked a lot more attractive when they were theoretical . the vaunted contract with america that launched house republicans into power in 1994 contained term_limits as a main plank . but those restrictions did not seem so critical once the democrats were out of power . ''suddenly getting themselves out of office and giving someone new a chance did n't seem like such a priority , '' said stacie rumenap , executive director of u.s . term_limits , a group that has aggressively promoted term_limits for years . the house voted in 1995 on a constitutional_amendment restricting terms , but it fell short of a required two thirds majority . house republicans retain limits on chairmanships , causing some retirements and chairman shuffling . representative george nethercutt , republican of washington , was the poster boy for term_limits , knocking off house speaker tom foley in 1994 on the promise he would serve only three , two year terms . he was elected to his fourth term in 2000 after deciding he could do more good in the capital . the difficulty of abiding by term_limits is bipartisan . this year , senator paul_wellstone , democrat of minnesota , is running for his third senate term after saying he would serve only two in his initial upstart campaign . washington talk correction june 28 , 2002 , friday a washington talk column on wednesday about moves by senate republicans to modify term_limits for committee_chairmen misstated the home state of senator gordon smith , who proposed to abolish the limits . he is from oregon , not washington .

china has agreed to buy the occidental_petroleum corporation 's 25 percent stake in the an tai bao coal mine and pay off the mine 's large foreign debt , a person close to the deal said today . the 750 million mine , the largest joint_venture ever between china and a foreign company , was a pet project of occidental 's late chairman , armand_hammer . since his death , the energy , chemicals and meatpacking concern has been getting out of many undertakings in which mr . hammer had special interest . occidental stock rose 1 . 375 a share to close at 22 . 625 today on the new york stock_exchange . the company also announced it was beginning a major oil search in the sahara desert in algeria . company news.

commerce secretary william m . daley and zeng peiyan , chairman of the china state planning commission , gathered yesterday with american and chinese executives in the great_hall of the people in beijing to announce 1 . 6 billion worth of new trade and investment deals between the two countries . while both sides tried to put the best face on a ceremony that has become a staple of chinese summit meetings with almost any western power , it was hard for the americans to mask their disappointment . american companies like boeing came away with far less than they had expected even a few months ago . many of the deals announced yesterday were given inflated values or were the same ones announced last fall , when president jiang_zemin of china visited washington . executives who hoped that the summit meeting might help pry open china 's vast market to american insurance_companies and banks came away empty handed . the poor showing is a result of the faltering asian economy and white_house sensitivity to contentions that it helped american aerospace companies conduct business in china in exchange for campaign contributions . the visit occurs when the united_states trade_deficit with china is running at the rate of 1 billion a week . the deficit has soared 20 percent this year compared to 1997 and is heading toward a record 60 billion , according to administration officials . in past trips abroad , president_clinton has been a major booster of american business , inviting executives to travel with him and paying visits to american factories abroad . but mr . clinton 's trip to china has been noticeable for his conspicuous lack of attention to american commercial interests . no executives accompanied mr . clinton to china , and he dropped plans to visit a general_motors plant in beijing and a lucent_technologies factory in shanghai . an administration official who insisted on anonymity said the white_house felt vulnerable to accusations that business interests were driving its ''engagement'' policy with china . at the signing ceremony , mr . daley hailed the agreements as a boon to relations and said they would reduce the trade_deficit and ' 'significantly encourage china 's efforts at social and economic_reform . '' he placed the total value of the 11 deals , which included companies like cargill , i.b.m . and lucent , at 3 . 3 billion . that includes an estimated 1 . 7 billion for a contract to explore for methane signed by the atlantic richfield company that appears to be highly speculative . the company said it would spend 60 million to drill three test wells over the next three years . if the wells prove viable a risky assumption in the energy business then the life of the contract might be worth 1 . 7 billion . the general_electric_company concluded a contract worth 160 million to supply two 660 megawatt steam turbines to a power plant in shandong_province . a memorandum of understanding to supply those turbines was signed on mr . jiang 's trip to washington . the boeing_company received an order for 10 737 jetliners , worth an estimated 400 million . two months ago boeing executives were hopeful that china would buy 50 jets , the same number that beijing ordered when mr . jiang was in washington . in recent years boeing has been a good barometer of the state of relations between washington and beijing . much of the company 's expected airplane sales over the next 20 years depend on china . when tension was high between the two countries in 1995 and 1996 , china placed two orders of 30 planes each with airbus industrie , the european consortium that is boeing 's archrival . now relations between beijing and washington are the warmest that they have been in years , but air travel in china has plunged this year because of the weakened asian economies . collectively , chinese airlines have totaled more than 200 million in losses . ''we would have liked them to order a lot of airplanes but we also understand the situation they are in right now , '' a spokeswoman for boeing in beijing , marta newhart , said . ''a lot of the airlines in china are not doing so well . '' clinton in china_trade correction july 7 , 1998 , tuesday a picture caption last tuesday about the signing of a contract in beijing for air_china to buy boeing jets misidentified an american shown shaking hands with the president of air_china . he was raymond w . bracy , president of boeing china , not commerce secretary william m . daley .

lead for the last 16 years , mississippi 's fifth congressional_district has been a bulwark of the republican_party 's southern strength , as native conservatism and popular presidential_candidates have built a political force that has won offices down to the county level . for the last 16 years , mississippi 's fifth congressional_district has been a bulwark of the republican_party 's southern strength , as native conservatism and popular presidential_candidates have built a political force that has won offices down to the county level . the republicans' strength on the gulf coast will be tested on tuesday in a special congressional election that pits tom anderson , a longtime aide to senator trent_lott , the man who led the republican charge in the area , against gene taylor , a conservative democratic state senator . mr . taylor 's profile as a maverick and an advocate of a strong defense has helped make him a surprise frontrunner in public opinion_polls . indications of just how high the stakes in the race are could be seen earlier this week in the campaign visit here by president_bush , who touted mr . anderson for his washington experience and for the conservative philosophy he would bring to the office . the democrats countered with a letter signed by the house speaker , thomas s . foley , and other democratic leaders promising to install mr . taylor on the armed services committee . the military influence much of the district 's economy is built on military spending generated by the huge ingalls shipyards in pascagoula , four military installations and the large number of retired military personnel who live in the district . the winner of the special_election will serve the remaining 14 months in the term of the late larkin smith . mr . smith , a popular republican sheriff who won the seat after mr . lott quit it to make a successful run for the senate last year , was killed in a plane crash on aug . 13 . ''it is definitely a conservative district , '' said dan leonard , deputy press_secretary for the republican congressional campaign committee , which has been helping the anderson campaign . ''we just have to convince voters that they are conservative republicans and not conservative democrats . '' brian martin , a taylor strategist and former executive director of the mississippi democratic_party , said the taylor campaign marked a democratic resurgence . fewer blacks in district for years , he said , mississippi democrats as well as party officials in washington had been cowed by mr . lott 's popularity in the district , never seriously challenging him and allowing him to become entrenched . much of the party 's strength in the state , mr . martin said , is built on a strong black vote in the central and delta regions . little attention was paid to the gulf coast , where blacks make up less than 20 percent of the population . ''this race might be the best thing to ever happen to the mississippi democratic_party , '' mr . martin said . ''the people here are ticket splitters and leaners , and if we really go after them , we might not turn them all into to democrats , but we will reduce the republican vote . '' the 43 year old mr . anderson , whose family runs a retail clothing chain in the area , has been a behind the scenes factor in mr . lott 's longtime dominance in the area . as administrative aide and executive assistant to mr . lott , mr . anderson not only helped shape the combative persona that propelled mr . lott to a position of leadership as the house minority whip and a national spokesman for conservative causes , but also directed the important constituent services aspect of mr . lott 's eight terms as representative . the strong hand of lott from the beginning mr . lott has taken a strong hand in pushing mr . anderson 's candidacy . when the seat became vacant , he was believed to have discouraged mr . smith 's widow and a number of others from running . that has cut both ways for mr . anderson . on the one hand it has convinced some people that he will have access to the white_house , but on the other it has raised the specter of bossism . a recent editorial cartoon in the jackson clarion ledger depicted mr . lott and mr . bush meeting at the airport , with the president carrying his lap dog , millie , and mr . lott carrying a lap dog labeled tom anderson . mr . taylor , who is 36 , began his political career as a city councilman in bay st . louis in his early 20 's and went on to win a seat in the state_senate . he came through a bruising democratic primary to win the nomination in last year 's congressional race , but lost to mr . smith in the general_election by 10 percentage_points . but that exposure helped mr . taylor in the special_election this year . he was considered the underdog in a three way nonpartisan primary on oct . 3 , a race that involved mr . anderson and the mississippi attorney_general , mike moore . but he ended up leading the field mr . moore ran a distant third . although mr . anderson is outspending mr . taylor by more than 4 to 1 at the end of september , mr . anderson had spent 403 , 000 to mr . taylor 's 81 , 000 the democratic candidate has clung to his pledge not to accept money from political_action_committees . ''i 'm not washington 's candidate or the candidate of some u.s . senator or some democratic power brokers in jackson , '' mr . taylor said in a debate recently . ''i 'm a southern mississippi candidate . '' correction_october 18 , 1989 , wednesday , late edition final because of a production error , an article on monday about the special_election yesterday for the fifth congessional district seat in mississippi carried misplaced lines and paragraphs in some copies . readers wishing corrected copies of the article may write to production quality_control , the new york times , 229 west 43d street , new york , n.y . 10036 .

devils coach larry_robinson played 23 seasons in the n.h.l . and logged 793 penalty minutes along the way . as a coach he also appreciates tough teams . but robinson had stern words for the toronto_maple_leafs tonight after the devils settled for a 1 1 tie at air_canada center . it was a scrappy and spirited game in which the devils earned 72 penalty minutes and the leafs 54 . ''it was a circus , '' robinson said . ''they 're not tough . they 're gutless . this was like a win for us . they punch after the whistle . they stab in the back of the leg . that 's not tough . for a tough team , they lead the league in dives . it upsets me big time . if you 're going to play tough , you do n't send guys out trying to hurt the best player . that 's goon hockey . that went out with the covered wagon . '' the final six minutes of the game , the second of a home and home series that began with a 3 2 devils victory in overtime friday at continental arena , degenerated into a brawl . robinson was most enraged by leafs defenseman wade belak , who began a fight with patrik_elias , the devils' leading_scorer , at 16 minutes 9 seconds of the third period . jason arnott tried to protect his teammate , and ended up with a game misconduct , as did belak . ''it 's unfortunate that took away from two great games , '' robinson said . he criticized the officials , saying , ''it got out of hand because they let it go right from the start . '' bad blood between the teams runs deeply , stemming from the elbow that the leafs enforcer tie_domi threw to the head of scott_niedermayer during last season 's playoffs , and fueled by the devils' victories over the leafs in the postseason the past two years . in friday 's victory , devils forward jim mckenzie received 27 penalty minutes trying to fight domi , who refused to take the bait . so it was expected that domi would retaliate tonight in front of a raucous crowd of 19 , 262 . domi dealt a number of hard checks throughout the game and tried to goad scott_stevens into a fight , but he never earned a penalty . the game featured more pushing and shoving than hockey until the leafs' captain , mats_sundin , beat martin_brodeur on the power play for his seventh goal of the season at 17 55 of the second period to give toronto a 1 0 lead . devils forward john_madden tied the game , 1 1 , at 8 59 of the third with his third goal of the season . just before the third period melee , the devils' randy_mckay and the leafs' gary roberts began to fight . the devils' scott_gomez had been hauled off to the penalty_box for roughing at 13 39 of the third , and mckay joined him with a five minute fighting penalty . roberts , too , was penalized . play continued , and then stevens and bryan mccabe started shoving at 14 42 . darcy tucker and shayne corson made their way into the fracas . soon stevens and holik joined gomez and mckay in the penalty_box , although there was barely enough room for all four to sit down . across the way , tucker and mccabe squeezed into the leafs' box . play went on for another minute until the fisticuffs broke out among belak , elias and arnott . corson and colin white also paired off . when the penalties were sorted out , arnott and white had game misconducts and elias earned a_10 minute misconduct and a fighting major . white also received a fighting major . daneyko conceded that passionate games like tonight 's are ''the reason i still play this game as an old man . '' but he added ''you do n't start suckering arnott when he 's defenseless . that 's not the style you should play in this league . '' holik was more philosophical about the plethora of penalties and what robinson described as cheap shots . ''we are in toronto , are n't we ? '' holik said with a shrug . ''there are certain things that happen in toronto that do n't happen anywhere else . '' slap_shots vyacheslav fetisov , the devils' assistant coach , was honored in a pregame ceremony and will be inducted into the hockey_hall_of_fame on monday_night in toronto . . . . martin_brodeur made 22 saves the leafs' curtis_joseph had 33 . . . . the devils went 0 for 3 on the power play . . . . the devils' next game is tuesday at continental arena against the pittsburgh penguins , and mario_lemieux is expected to be in the lineup . hockey.

a house of lords committee endorsed legislation , upheld by a court ruling in november , that permits the cloning of human embryos for medical research . the select committee on stem_cell_research , whose decision gives the green_light for cloning to proceed , said licenses to clone human embryos should be granted only to researchers who deposit cells in a stem_cell bank and that health officials should be sure that no suitable cell line already exists . research on cells taken from embryos could lead to cures for illnesses like parkinson 's disease and alzheimer 's disease . alan_cowell ( nyt )

frustrated after six months of fruitless inquiries to chinese officials , american legislators are mounting a public campaign on behalf of a prominent muslim businesswoman from china 's far west who was jailed on vague charges of revealing state intelligence to foreigners . the woman , rebiya kadeer , 53 , was detained aug . 11 in urumqi , the capital of xinjiang_province , where she owned a department_store and a trading company . she was picked up just before she was to meet visiting congressional staff members , who had invited her to a private dinner . later , two of her sons and her secretary were detained as well . one son was released after three days . the other , accused of supporting subversive activities , was sent without trial to a labor_camp for two years . the secretary was sentenced to three years in a labor_camp . ms . kadeer 's trial was delayed and may take place in the next few weeks , her family has been told . for years , ms . kadeer had been officially touted as a rags to riches inspiration for her fellow members of the uighur ethnic_group . now , her arrest has highlighted china 's troubled relations with the uighur muslims , who are a dwindling majority in the province as ethnic chinese move in , and have been struggling to assert their national identity . ms . kadeer 's arrest has been condemned by international legal monitors , including human_rights_watch and amnesty international , because the case appears to be flimsy and the real target appears to be her husband , sidik rouzi . he is an uighur nationalist who fled to the united_states in 1996 and made radio broadcasts critical of beijing . the son who was detained and released in august , alim abdiryim , asserted in an interview from urumqi last week that his mother and his imprisoned brother , ablikim abdiryim , 26 , had done nothing more than send published local newspaper articles about uighur affairs to their father . ''she was arrested because she was one of the most patriotic members of our uighur nationality and one of the people most willing to help the poor , '' said mr . abdiryim , who is 24 . ''the other reason was because of my father , who they said was engaged in counterrevolutionary activities in the united_states . '' because ms . kadeer had been about to meet with the congressional staff members , who were on an official tour , when she was arrested , several american senators and representatives have followed the case closely . but letters and meetings with chinese officials have yielded no explanations . so senator william v . roth jr . , the delaware republican , plans to seek wide support this week for a congressional resolution calling on the chinese to release ms . kadeer , her son and secretary , and calling for a united_nations human_rights investigation . senator roth , as chairman of the senate_finance_committee , will manage the key trade legislation seeking permanent normal trade status for china in connection with china 's entry into the world_trade_organization . he has strongly supported china 's entry into the trade body , but said he had been frustrated by chinese stonewalling on the kadeer case . ''six months of quiet diplomacy has achieved nothing , '' senator roth said in an interview on sunday , adding that he was worried by indications that ms . kadeer would soon be put on trial . a guilty_verdict in chinese security trials is virtually preordained . depending on how the court defines her transgression , ms . kadeer could receive anywhere from a short sentence to more than 10 years in prison . a separate resolution calling for the release of ms . kadeer , her son and secretary was introduced last week by senator paul_wellstone , a democrat from minnesota and a frequent critic of china 's human_rights policies . splintered and lacking an internationally_recognized leader like the tibetans' dalai_lama , uighur nationalists have received relatively little international attention . xinjiang security forces have periodically battled members of a small , armed separatist_movement that seeks an independent east turkestan , and scores of uighur militants have been executed in recent years . but the chinese are also struggling to contain a much broader effort by uighurs to strengthen their sense of identity and their economic status in the face of domination by ethnic chinese and the communist_party . outspoken intellectuals like mr . rouzi have been jailed or have gone into exile , and publications about uighur history and conditions are tightly_controlled . in the mid 1990 's , ms . kadeer was praised as a bootstrap millionaire . born in poverty , married at 15 , she amassed a trading fortune even as she raised 10 children . the communist_party held her up as a product of its enlightened ethnic policies . she was appointed to the chinese people 's political consultative congress , a prestigious national advisory body , and a was delegate to the united_nations conference on women , held in beijing in 1995 . her star apparently began to fall after her husband left for political_asylum in the united_states in 1996 . mr . rouzi had been imprisoned in the late 1960 's for his role in an anti chinese demonstration , he said in an interview last week from oklahoma , where he now lives . then in the mid 1990 's he published two articles in urumqi newspapers criticizing chinese treatment of uighurs . fearing arrest , in 1996 he moved to the united_states . he angered authorities further by broadcasting nationalistic messages on uighur language programs of the voice of america and radio_free_asia , united_states sponsored networks beaming into china . in 1997 , ms . kadeer 's passport was revoked and the authorities froze the funds of an organization she had started to aid muslim businesswomen . in 1998 , she was removed from the national consultative conference and publicly castigated for failing to condemn her husband 's broadcasts . ''she was never involved in politics , '' mr . rouzi said of his wife in an interview last week . ''but she loves the uighur people . '' mr . rouzi said he had stopped his radio broadcasts . five of their children live in the united_states , while the other five remain in china . mr . rouzi said the family had been told that ms . kadeer 's case would be brought to trial soon after the chinese new year holiday . the freed son , alim abdiryim , said relatives had been allowed to visit their mother only once since her arrest , on jan . 5 . ''she was in poor spirits and said , 'i 'm innocent , get me out of here , ' '' he said . soon after her arrest , he said , the authorities said she had been charged with providing foreign organizations with state secrets and intelligence . ''my mother is simply a businesswoman , '' mr . abdiryim said . ''she does n't know anything about state secrets or intelligence . ''

the strongest scenes in the performance by project fukurow , an experimental dance company from tokyo , at the jacob 's pillow dance festival on thursday night involved tetsuo sanari and devilish little robots . mr . sanari played a kafkaesque everyman beset by strange apparitions in the form of four other dancers and the robots . fukurow ishikawa 's program notes allude to subconscious fears , darkness and evil the title , ''ozma'' means loneliness and ''not evil , '' by which mr . ishikawa suggests that while his ''other self'' may be dark it is not malign . but three miniature radio controlled robots with monster jaws and tanklike bodies and wriggling legs centipede creatures made of little knives or scythes looked pretty evil to me . this 65 minute ''ozma , '' billed as the company 's first full evening performance in the united_states , is a much fuller version of a 15 minute piece , also called ''ozma , '' that was given at the japan society in new york in january 2004 . the jacob 's pillow news release refers to it as a ''visionary critique of industrialist society , '' but an opening into subconscious horror is more like it . early on there is a video projection of creepy crawlies of some sort on the back of a strange throne with buck rogers radio antennas in which mr . sanari is eventually revealed , bandaged and bound . the creepy crawlies return as the three tanklike robots , but in between there are other robots , doll like humanoids that walk and move , and a three blade propeller or fan with a mind of its own . there are also projections of four chinese_characters ( understandable by japanese but untranslated here ) that read , according to the festival press office , as ''a burrowing insect peeking its head above the ground , a coiling insect , lice and leeches , and foolish . '' beneath all that hello kitty cuteness , a lot of contemporary japanese_art and popular_culture is truly scary . mr . ishikawa , it turns out , whatever his dance background may be , was trained as an electrical_engineer and worked as a ' 'medical care machine provider , '' still later studying with ''a master of traditional japanese mechanical dolls . '' the festival program includes a fascinating essay by susan carbonneau about the japanese obsession with dolls , puppets , mechanical dolls and robots . as a choreographer for mere human bodies , mr . ishikawa seems less sure . mr . sanari moves best , capturing mr . ishikawa 's tremors and belly flops and backward falls and spasmodic leaps with fluid control . the other four keiko hirata , kirie ichikawa , naoko ishikawa and yu shizawa in the monkish , bunraku style black costumes everyone wears , it is hard to tell who is a man and who is a woman are earnest and effective but not quite as riveting , and mr . ishikawa 's limited choreographic palette begins to seem repetitive . this full length ''ozma'' is constructed in vignettes , with sharply varying ( if always exotic and deliberately odd ) music for each section . in between the sections is silence , or such silence as is possible with noisy theater fans . things come full circle toward the end , with deliberately recurring imagery , but in between the hypnotic aura falters there was a steady trickle of walkouts on thursday and the piece does n't know quite how to end . perhaps mr . ishikawa has expanded ''ozma'' too much and it would work better in a shorter , more focused version . or maybe he just needs to impress his most powerful images more firmly onto the rest of the material . because the powerful images are very , very strong . project fukurow performs at the doris duke studio theater of the jacob 's pillow dance festival this afternoon and evening and tomorrow afternoon , 358 george carter road , becket , mass . ( 413 ) 243 0745 . dance review correction august 31 , 2005 , wednesday a dance review on thursday about project fukurow , an experimental company from tokyo that performed at the jacob 's pillow dance festival , misstated the given name of a critic and historian who contributed an essay to the program notes . she is suzanne carbonneau , not susan .

lead the london_stock_exchange has set up a committee to investigate allegations that equity market makers refused to trade shares one day earlier this month when stock prices suffered a record drop , a source said today . the london_stock_exchange has set up a committee to investigate allegations that equity market makers refused to trade shares one day earlier this month when stock prices suffered a record drop , a source said today . stockbrokers and fund managers have said market making firms did not answer their telephones aug . 6 because they did not want to buy shares while prices were tumbling . the bank of england had just coaxed major commercial_banks to raise their base_lending_rate by one percentage point , to 10 percent , and the stock_market lost about 3 percent of its total value in a few hours in reaction to the increase . an official at the stock_exchange would not comment on the matter , but a source close to the investigation said the committee was ''trying to investigate exactly what did happen'' that thursday . the source , who spoke on condition of anonymity , added that the stock_exchange had received very few complaints about market makers' refusing to trade , and that the investigation had been mostly sparked by press comments about the affair . the source did not know when the committee would conclude its study .

new york state officials are continuing to think small when it comes to trying to reinvigorate the flagging upstate economy . they plan to announce a 600 million partnership with the computer industry on thursday to develop technology at the state university at albany to make transistors even more unimaginably tiny , so they can cram even more of them onto computer chips . the project , which is being called the international venture for nanolithography , is the latest of the state 's efforts to make albany a high tech center that can compete with other industry hubs like austin , tex . , and silicon_valley in california . gov . george e . pataki , a republican , has made the effort one of his administration 's top priorities , and has worked to lure businesses and investors to albany nanotech , the research operation based at the state university here . but in a sign that the drive is now bipartisan , the latest project is being started with 105 million in state funds that will be spent at the request of the democratic led state_assembly a public investment that the center expects will grow to 180 million over the next few years . assembly_speaker_sheldon_silver said in a statement that ''the work that is being done here at this facility is transforming this region . '' nanotechnology , the science of manipulating extremely small things , has become a hot_topic among politicians , researchers and journalists . ''nano'' is not the catchphrase from an old sci_fi comedy starring robin williams , but a prefix meaning one billionth . one nanometer is a billionth of a meter . one of the goals of the new venture in albany , said dr . alain e . kaloyeros , the president of albany nanotech , will be to shrink transistors to 22 nanometers from 90 nanometers , so more can fit on computer chips . to put that in perspective , consider that an average human hair is about 100 , 000 nanometers wide . dr . kaloyeros said that chip_makers i.b.m. advanced_micro_devices , ( the second largest chip manufacturing company after intel ) infineon technologies and micron technology will invest 200 million in the project . and he said he expected companies that supply materials and equipment to invest another 220 million in the project . the growth of the technology sector here got a big boost in 2002 , when governor pataki helped lure sematech , the computer chip consortium that helped transform austin into a major center of computer research , to albany . the hope was that albany another state capital , another university town and an area with a relatively low cost of living had all the ingredients to follow in the footsteps of austin , which saw its economy jolted to life by the computer industry . since then , several other big companies have been lured to the area . now the focus is on lithography , using smaller and more focused wavelengths of light to etch smaller and smaller patterns onto semiconductor materials to create circuits . ''what appears on the surface as being decoupled announcements are part of a strategy to transform albany nanotech and upstate new york into the biggest , baddest player , if you will , at the most expensive , richest and most challenging aspect of the computer chip industry lithography , '' dr . kaloyeros said . albany , of course , has yet to morph into austin , and attempts to generate buzz by rechristening the hudson_valley ''tech valley'' are still met with bemusement in many quarters here . but if the investments that high tech firms have made in the area have yet to translate into enormous numbers of jobs , they have helped fuel an optimism about the future of the region that is reflected in the rising price of real_estate , analysts say . since the sematech deal , the state has given 535 million to start projects at albany nanotech , and private industry has committed to investing 1 . 7 billion , nanotech officials said . there are currently 645 people working at nanotech , officials said , which is shy of the 1 , 000 it was hoped would be working there by now . but the new project should bring more than 200 more jobs to nanotech , officials said .

germany 's gross_domestic_product stagnated in the third quarter while unemployment surged in november . german g.d.p . was unchanged in the third quarter of 1995 from the second and was 1.5 percent higher than the corresponding 1994 period , the federal statistics office said yesterday . the rise over the previous year was the weakest since the fourth_quarter of 1993 . unemployment leaped by 42 , 000 after seasonal_adjustment in november to more than 3.7 million , the fourth rise in a row , the federal labor office said . the rise was worse than economists had expected . the jobless_rate rose to 9.7 percent from 9.6 percent in october . ( reuters ) international briefs.

lead the british_government is worried that cable and wireless p.l.c . could be barred from participating in japan 's lucrative telecommunications business , a british official said today . cable and wireless owns 20 percent of international digital communications planning , which along with international telecom japan seeks to compete against the former monopoly , kokushin denshin denwa . the british_government is worried that cable and wireless p.l.c . could be barred from participating in japan 's lucrative telecommunications business , a british official said today . cable and wireless owns 20 percent of international digital communications planning , which along with international telecom japan seeks to compete against the former monopoly , kokushin denshin denwa .

lead west_german banks have agreed to reduce the working week of their 390 , 000 employees by an hour , to 39 hours , according to representatives of two unions . employees will also receive a 3.4 percent pay raise . in exchange , the unions have agreed to allow more flexible working hours for bank employees . west_german banks have agreed to reduce the working week of their 390 , 000 employees by an hour , to 39 hours , according to representatives of two unions . employees will also receive a 3.4 percent pay raise . in exchange , the unions have agreed to allow more flexible working hours for bank employees . south_africa 's central_bank governor has publicly disagreed with president p . w . botha over the best way to control inflation . mr . botha last week announced plans to give his government new powers to set prices and hinted at wage curbs . but gerhard de kock , the chief of the south african reserve bank , said he favored the existing policy of sticking strictly to money_supply targets , controlling government spending and , if necessary , raising interest rates . china 's shenzhen special_economic_zone , which borders hong_kong , will accept bids for two parcels of land one for commercial use and the other for residential from overseas investors , the official china news service said . it will be the first time foreign investors would be allowed to bid for the land . jordan said that it would sign a 110 million barter trade agreement with egypt today . mohammad al saqqaf , the secretary general of the ministry of trade and industry , said jordan would swap cement , potash , detergent , paint and tomato paste for aluminum , ammonium nitrate , rice and cotton . ministry sources said the barter deal would be based on world prices . kenya had 662 , 000 tourists last year , or 10 percent more than the 604 , 000 who visited in 1986 , according to george muhoho , kenya 's minister of tourism and wildlife . he said that foreign exchange earnings from tourism had risen by 20 percent in 1987 , to the equivalent of 360 million .

short term interest rates jumped to their highest level in nearly 21 months yesterday as investors and dealers sold treasury_securities on expectations that the federal_reserve would raise its interest rate target this week . traders and investors are focusing on when and how large the next interest rate increase by the fed will be . the federal open market committee , the policy making arm of the central_bank , meets today for the first time since short term interest rates were raised on feb . 4 . the longer the fed waits to raise short term rates , the more investors grow concerned that the central_bank is not being aggressive enough in combating inflation . this fear has already played a major role in pushing short term interest rates higher and pushing long term rates near 7 percent . at the treasury 's weekly auction yesterday , the average rate of a three month bill was 3 . 61 percent , up from 3 . 57 percent last week . the average rate for a six month bill was 3 . 90 percent , up from 3 . 85 percent . the rate on a three month bill is now more than a percentage point higher than its low of 2 . 58 percent on oct . 1 , 1992 , and the highest since it was 3 . 62 percent on june 26 , 1992 . long term rates also rose yesterday . the yield of the 30 year bond climbed to 6 . 95 percent , from 6 . 90 percent on friday . its price , which moves in the opposite direction , dropped 21 32 , to 918 32 . the yield on intermediate term securities also gained , with the yield on the seven year note rising to 6 . 17 percent from 6 . 11 percent . matthew f . alexy , a government trading specialist at cs first boston , said the fed 's job now was to raise short term interest rates and stabilize the market . " raising interest rates is easy , bringing stability to the market will be more difficult , " he said . some analysts and traders said a half point increase in the fed 's short term interest rate target would lend some stability to the government securities market and show investors and dealers how serious the fed was about fighting inflation in the future . the fed uses the federal funds rate , which is now 3 . 25 , as its short term interest rate benchmark . the federal funds rate is interest banks charge each other for overnight loans . the fed raised the rate from 3 percent on feb . 4 , its first increase in five years . but many traders have argued that the february increase was too small . mr . alexy said the market would not be satisfied with another quarter of a percentage point increase in the federal funds rate . but he said traders and investors might be placated if such an increase was accompanied by a half a percentage point rise in the fed 's discount_rate , which is now 3 percent . the discount_rate is the interest the fed charges banks for loans . an increase in the discount_rate would be seen as another signal of the fed 's toughness , especially because it would lead to an increase in banks' prime rates . " the problem the market has with a gradual approach to raising rates is that it will get one tightening and still be expecting more , " mr . alexy said . " how can you expect investors to buy securities if they think rates will be going up again soon . rising interest rates will cause the securities to lose value . " mr . alexy said the timing of any move by the fed was another concern for the market because dealers worry about the impact of higher rates ahead of the treasury 's sale of 28 billion in new two and five year notes today and tomorrow . a poor auction could leave many dealers holding more treasury_securities than they would like . in when issued trading yesterday , the two year note was being offered at a price to yield 5 . 13 percent , up from 5 . 09 percent on friday , while the five year note was being offered at a price to yield 6 . 05 percent , up from 6 percent last week . analysts said the widespread speculation that the fed would increase short term rates had grown more feverish since friday 's meeting between president_clinton and alan_greenspan , the chairman of the fed . although the white_house denied that interest rates or today 's policy committee meeting were discussed , many analysts believe that the credibility of the fed is on the line and that it will have to tighten credit just to prove that mr . greenspan was not pressured by the administration . most economists polled by the reuters news service expect the fed to tighten with a 25 basis_point increase in the federal funds rate today . a basis_point is one hundredth of 1 percent . the treasury , meanwhile , yesterday reported a budget_deficit of 41 . 6 billion in february , which was smaller than the 44 billion deficit that had been expected . last month , the treasury reported a 15 . 6 billion surplus . the following are the results of yesterday 's auction of new three and six month treasury_bills ( 000 omitted in dollar figures ) 3 mo . bills 6 mo . bills average price 99 . 087 98 . 028 discounted_rate 3 . 61 3 . 90 coupon_yield 3 . 70 4 . 03 high price 99 . 093 98 . 033 discounted_rate 3 . 59 3 . 89 coupon_yield 3 . 67 4 . 02 low price 99 . 085 98 . 028 discounted_rate 3 . 62 3 . 90 coupon_yield 3 . 70 4 . 03 accepted at low price 67 31 total applied for 41 , 770 , 261 44 , 954 , 868 accepted 12 , 609 , 800 12 , 752 , 250 noncompetitive 1 , 282 , 744 982 , 766 both issues are dated march 24 , 1994 . the three month bills mature on june 23 , 1994 , and the six month bills mature on sept . 22 , 1994 . credit markets.

indianapolis , feb . 6 when mike_tyson 's accuser first met the former heavyweight champion at a beauty_pageant last july , she was " star struck , " flirted with him and was soon talking about his money , four witnesses testified today in his rape trial . one of the witnesses , madelyn d . whittington , a college senior from ohio , testified that minutes after the 23 contestants in the miss black america pageant were introduced to tyson , the accuser told her of plans to go out with him . " 'yes , of course , i 'm going , ' " whittington quoted the woman as saying . " 'this is mike_tyson . he 's got a lot of money . he 's dumb . you see what robin givens got out of him . ' " givens , the actress , is tyson 's former wife . like tyson 's accuser , whittington and the three other defense witnesses were contestants in the pageant . tyson has been accused of raping the 18 year old woman in the early hours of july 19 . the testimony of the four witnesses was meant to bolster one of the main defense contentions that his accuser is a gold digger who from the beginning viewed him as a source of wealth . tyson conceded that he had sex with the woman , but he has insisted that she consented . a joke about tyson two of the witnesses , cecellia alexander and parquita nassau , recalled with almost the same words , a conversation between tyson 's accuser and another contestant , pasha oliver . oliver , they said , jokingly referred to tyson as the woman 's husband and joked about how inarticulate he was . the witnesses said the woman 's reply was " mike does n't have to know how to speak . he 'll make all the money and i 'll do all the talking . " their testimony came after a one day delay in the trial caused by a fire early wednesday morning that heavily damaged the hotel in which the jurors were being sequestered . two firefighters and a businessman were killed in the blaze , but none of the jurors were injured . one juror was apparently too shaken by the fire to continue today . the juror , a 36 year old unemployed man , was replaced by one of the alternates , a 44 year old telephone company employee . 'was not arson' local officials said today that the fire had probably been triggered by defective wiring in a refrigeration unit on the third floor of the hotel . but because the jurors were in the same hotel though on the sixth floor arson investigators have been trying to determine if the fire was more than just a coincidence . " all the preliminary indications are that this was not arson , " jeffrey modisett , the marion county prosecutor , told reporters today . in presenting tyson 's case , his lead lawyer , vincent j . fuller , has contended that the woman fabricated the rape charge after discovering that she would be nothing more than " a one night stand . " if tyson is convicted of rape , fuller has said , the woman will find it easier to win a civil_lawsuit and become , in his words , " a very wealthy woman . " the defense has also asserted that during tyson 's 36 hour visit to this city , as part of the indiana black expo , a lot of people saw his rude , even lewd , behavior . described as friendly his accuser , they have implied , must have been aware of this conduct and , in still agreeing to go out with him , must have been consenting to his sexual advances . she has denied seeing or hearing anything that put her on notice about his intentions . but christine harris , one of the contestants who testified for the defense today , said she saw nothing offensive in tyson 's actions , even describing him as " friendly , shy and somewhat reserved . " the other three all testified to sexually suggestive comments . nassau said that when pageant officials introduced tyson to the contestants during the rehearsal , he said that he wanted to have sex with all of them . " i 'm a celebrity and we do that sort of thing , " she recalled tyson saying . during the opening ceremony later in the afternoon , she said , she ignored tyson 's advances . " if you do n't want to go out with me , i can move on , cause i can have any one of these " women , she said tyson had told her . then , she said , he grabbed her buttocks . she asked why he was disrespecting her and he apologized , she said . taken together , the witnesses painted a different portrait of tyson 's accuser than that which emerged last week . but during cross_examination , the prosecutors did elicit testimony that seemed favorable to them . all of them except nassau said that they could not be sure that tyson 's accuser had heard his remarks or had seen his behavior . and all except nassau said that the hugging and joking between tyson and the woman had appeared to be innocent . nassau said tyson 's accuser was aware that tyson had asked several of the contestants . " i saw them cuddling with each other , " she said in response to questioning by one of the defense lawyers , f . lane heard . " they looked like they were involved with each other . " characterized as naive but nassau also provided the prosecution with the strongest support for its characterization of the woman . nassau described her as naive and " not streetwise . " in addition to the former contestants , the jury heard from a gynecologist , dr . margaret watanabe , who said it was impossible to tell if the two small vaginal abrasions the young woman had were caused by a rape or by consensual sex . last week a prosecution_witness , dr . james akin , said he had performed 20 , 0000 pelvic examinations and that the abrasions that another doctor found on the woman were " incredibly unlikely to happen in consensual sex . "

like almost all big enterprises in russia , far east shipping of vladivostok needs money , a lot of it , to survive and expand in a time of economic and industrial upheaval . but instead of demanding subsidies from the government or cheap loans from the central_bank , as most large companies in this country have , far east shipping wants to raise 100 million or more in a way that until recently had not been possible for russian companies by selling shares to investors . far east shipping is a pioneer in what could be one of the most critical and treacherous areas of russia 's economic_reform , the development of equity markets through which companies can raise capital . companies in any country need a combination of loans and equity to finance their operations and pay for expansion . but the need for equity financing is especially pressing for russian enterprises remaking themselves along capitalist lines . a relative few companies have been able to attract investment directly from the west . but for the vast majority , the only alternative to government subsidies or new equity has been to take bank loans , though as a practical matter that option has been largely closed to them . with russia 's inflation exceeding 8 percent a month , interest rates are too high for most companies . moreover , few banks have any expertise in lending to companies on a commercial basis , and even where they do , they seem more interested in activity like currency trading than in financing long term corporate growth . " you 'd normally expect debt raising to play a bigger role in the economic and corporate development of russia than it does at the moment , " said arnold shipp , a director of samuel_montagu , a british investment_bank that is working on a pilot program to help russian companies raise equity capital . " because it does n't , this places a greater reliance on funds from equity markets . " for the last few years , stock_exchanges have been springing up across russia . most have been limited to trading the vouchers issued by the government to citizens for use in acquiring shares in enterprises being privatized . there is some trading in the underlying shares , as well , much of it connected to efforts by managers and investors to grab controlling stakes in companies . now , however , companies are starting to look at the securities markets as a way of financing their operations and expansion plans . " the first stage of the development of securities markets has been defined by a struggle for control of enterprises , " said dmitri v . vasiliyev , deputy chairman of the russian securities commission and of the state property commission , the government_agency overseeing the privatization process . " we 're now in transition from the first stage to the second , where enterprises can raise capital through market structures , " mr . vasiliyev said . " in some respects , this development has occurred more quickly than many people supposed . " russian officials and western advisers and investment bankers said there had already been isolated cases of russian companies' raising equity , and that many more companies were now planning to do so . " there should be very significant activity over the next 9 to 12 months , " said stephen jennings , co head of cs first boston 's office here . " a lot of companies need to go to the market for capital . there 's a huge onus on the users of capital to push for the development of a market , and they 're doing that . " there are immense hurdles in russia for companies wishing to raise capital , and for investors interested in purchasing their shares . trading is now spread among dozens of exchanges across the country and an informal over the counter market . various government ministries are squabbling over who should regulate the markets , and how tightly . there are few reputable and experienced russian brokers to handle any sales . public confidence has been shaken by wide fraud among investment funds that trade in privatization vouchers and shares . the moscow police said it had investigated more than 500 cases of investment fraud so far this year , including one in which an apparently sham fund cheated 10 , 000 investors out of 8 million . perhaps most important , few russian companies have much financial information to provide to investors , and in many cases managers are reluctant to make public what data they do have . short term thinking business plans , where they exist at all , tend to be vague . managers often give the impression that they are more interested in entrenching themselves for the short run than in running the company for the long run . " shares in russia are really not proper shares , " a government official said . " they are really more like lottery tickets . " mr . vasiliyev said that perhaps 1 , 500 to 2 , 000 of the 11 , 000 russian enterprises that had been privatized were financially strong enough to begin considering a secondary stock offering . but even among many strong companies , there has been resistance to cutting work forces to affordable levels , to focusing on their most viable businesses and product lines , and to bringing in new managers and outside directors all steps that investors are likely to demand before plunking down their rubles . indeed , some analysts said that the development of equity markets would put pressure on corporate managers to shed their old soviet_era mentality and start focusing on profit and long term survival instead of just retaining their jobs and perks . the need to compete for capital , mr . jennings of cs first boston predicted , will force companies to whip themselves into shape and provide better financial information . " over time there will be very strong incentives for issuers of capital to behave themselves , " he said . yet even for those enterprises that present themselves to the markets in tiptop condition , there is the question of where the capital will come from . some officials believe there will be considerable interest among western investors . executives of american and european investment firms with offices here agreed , and there are growing numbers of fund managers , like paine_webber and the framlington group of britain , which are investing directly in russian companies or in joint_ventures between russians and western partners . but the extent of capital available for investment from russians remains unclear . mr . vasiliyev said russians had exchanged trillions of rubles into hard_currency , and that some of those billions of dollars would flow back into ruble investments if inflation could be controlled . there are also signs that the flight of capital from russia is slowing or even reversing , with russians who previously chose to stow their new wealth in swiss banks now seeing attractive opportunities closer to home . the international_monetary_fund recently estimated that capital_flight from russia declined to 8 billion last year from 13 billion in 1992 . participants in the nascent russian markets said it was important that the first big offerings be attractive to investors and inspire confidence among investors and issuers that the system works . officials said far east shipping is a good candidate because it makes a hard_currency profit reported to be 10 million a year . the company , government officials said , wants to raise money not to pay salaries or forestall bankruptcy , but to finance the expansion of its fleet to take advantage of growing pacific_rim trade . " the markets are somewhat chaotic , " mr . jennings said , " but the pieces are beginning to fall into place . "

the united_states_army 's audacious drive through the streets of baghdad today was a calculated bit of muscle flexing to demonstrate to residents that the american military was indeed at the gates of the city and determined to operate inside . it also served important tactical ends , enabling american_forces to test the mettle of their foe , reduce iraq 's defenses and clear a path for similar forays in future . this was not a hurried drive by through hostile territory , but a three hour journey along two of the city 's major arteries , bringing the soldiers into contact with thousands of iraqi paramilitary and other fighters . it was just the first of a series of armored thrusts and raids by light_infantry that are intended to keep the iraqi military confused and off balance . the americans are also considering seizing strategic points within the capital and stationing troops there to turn them into bases of operations within the city . as they operate inside baghdad the americans are also seeking to cut off the major roads that lead in and out of baghdad . the intent is to seal off much of the city even as american armored formations , light_infantry and special_operations forces try to attack the government inside . the incursion today began when an armored formation moved from a staging area on the southern outskirts of baghdad and roared north on hilla road into the city . traveling past umm al tabul square , the column then rumbled west on the expressway to the airport . the m1 tanks and m2 bradley fighting vehicles left a trail of destruction , blowing up 30 iraqi trucks , one tank and one armored_personnel_carrier . about 2 , 000 iraqis soldiers and paramilitary fighters were killed , according to military officials here . the americans drove by infantry from the republican guard nebuchadnezzar division , the division 's command and control unit , air defense batteries and d 30 artillery batteries . american officers familiar with the operation said the iraqis had not organized the much feared urban defense of fortifications , artillery and strong points . but there was resistance . firing rocket propelled grenades , the iraqis hit the track of an m1 tank , scoring what the military calls a ' 'mobility kill . '' the americans tried to tow the tank home , but it caught on fire and they blew it up so that the iraqis could not use it . at least six american_soldiers were reported to have been wounded in the operation , some critically . as a demonstration of raw power , the operation complemented the campaign of radio broadcasts and leaflets that have been telling baghdad 's residents that mr . hussein 's days are numbered and the americans are coming to their city to remove him from power . the residents of baghdad are familiar with american firepower . they endured 43 days of airstrikes during the 1991 persian_gulf_war and have seen mr . hussein 's palaces and other centers of power pounded repeatedly during bombing that started with a strike on a leadership bunker in the early hours of march 20 , iraqi time . but this is the first time that american tanks have driven through the streets of baghdad . the arrival of the tanks came as a shock to one iraqi colonel who was captured by american_soldiers . military officials said he told his captors that he had been told the american_troops were 100 miles away the very official iraqi perception the americans hoped to dispel with their raid . the foray into the capital served several purposes . first , it enabled the americans to strip away the iraqi defenders on the roads that link the airport and the third infantry division assembly area , the two locations where the army 's forces have set up camps . second , it allowed american_forces to gauge the iraqis' strength , and third , it prompted the iraqis to react , giving american intelligence an opportunity to listen for panicky radio messages and to observe the iraqi movements . with every new probe , the americans prompt the iraqis to move out of their hiding places and revetments and to reveal their positions . the iraqi government still appears to be exercising control within the capital . it is believed to be using couriers and land lines to transmit messages within baghdad so that americans cannot destroy its command and control system or listen in . but the system seems to be fraying . american military officials are no longer sure how the defense of baghdad is being directed or which disparate groups of fighters are operating on their own . baghdad is not the only arena . american military officials said they believed that the home of ali hassan al majid , who is known as ''chemical ali'' and is a cousin of saddam_hussein , had been successfully bombed in a basra attack . mr . majid earned his nickname because he oversaw the the use of chemical_weapons in kurdish northern iraq in the 1980 's and has been placed in charge of iraqi forces in the southern part of the country . he has been the target of repeated attacks , including one in amarah that reportedly narrowly_missed . his death would probably expedite a british victory in basra . a number of steps have been taken to weaken baghdad 's defenses . after taking the airport two nights ago , american warplanes bombed republican guard forces north of baghdad . a major goal of the american attacks has been to prevent retreating iraqi defenders from taking up positions inside the capital . iraqi_army forces and troops from the republican guards hammurabi division , which have been sent west of baghdad , were attacked by a cavalry unit as they sought to move east toward the capital , military officials said . there have been no substantial counterattacks . american_forces have received intelligence that iraq is planning to strike back with suicide bombers . earlier this week , a vehicle full of propane exploded after it was stopped at a checkpoint near samawa by soldiers from the 82nd_airborne_division . marines also reported encountering fighters from jordan , egypt and sudan as they approached baghdad . there have been reports of fighters from syria and chechnya in southern iraq . but the major focus was on what was happening inside baghdad . the americans and british have discovered that many iraqis in the south have been reluctant to challenge the government until they are certain that the allies are really determined to destroy president hussein . so there is an important psychological benefit from operating inside baghdad . the foray today is a sign of american seriousness and an indication of further attacks to come . a nation at war military analysis.

the economic_planning agency of japan said today that the economy grew 0.2 percent in the quarter that ended sept . 30 , continuing to teeter between growth and recession . ''that 's a pretty tepid figure , which essentially means we 've passed the peak and will see another slowdown , '' said robert alan feldman , chief economist at morgan_stanley dean_witter in tokyo . although the figure , which put the country on pace to grow 1 percent for the full year , was in line with economists' predictions , revisions introduced last month pushed the second quarter figure down to 0.2 percent from 0.9 percent , a significant change . most economists were bracing their clients for a potentially sharp deceleration in growth in the current quarter as economies elsewhere around the globe , most notably in the united_states , show signs of slowing . the appetite in those markets for japanese exports has been a primary driver of economic_growth here over the last several quarters , but in the third quarter , imports exceeded exports , a rare occurrence in japan . ''japan has not completely lost its momentum yet , so if external conditions turn out better than they currently appear to be , then maybe the gloom is unwarranted , '' said masaaki kanno , an economist at j . p . morgan in tokyo . ''but if not , japan faces quite a tough period ahead , i think . '' taichi_sakaiya , the head of the agency , said that the government could not afford to reverse its expansive fiscal_policy despite growing public concerns about japan 's mounting debt burden . ''if the government abandons steps to support the economy , it would be a harsh blow , '' he said . that comment affirms doubts in the private_sector that japan 's economy can sustain a recovery on its own . government spending was down 10 . 7 percent in the third quarter , as public works budgets were exhausted , and the effects of a modest supplemental_budget passed a couple of weeks ago will not show up until sometime early next year . although mr . sakaiya insisted that consumer_spending , which accounts for 60 percent of economic activity here , would pick up early next year , the statistics do not bear him out . wages fell in the third quarter and pressure for japanese companies to pursue more restructuring is rising . a recent survey of almost 400 large companies by the nihon_keizai_shimbun indicated that bonuses would be up slightly this winter , but mr . feldman said using that survey to predict trends in the overall economy ''is tempting fate . '' a bright spot in today 's report was capital spending , which began to rise early this year and has been the largest contributor to economic_growth this year . the figure was up 7.8 percent , but the number is likely to be revised . mr . feldman said that there were signs that capital spending would slow in coming months . he said inventories had been growing and telecommunications and other information_technology related businesses , which have been chiefly responsible for the robust outlays this year , plan to reduce spending .

lead jack the ripper , the victorian murderer who terrorized london 99 years ago and was never caught , was a failed barrister and schoolmaster named montague john druitt , two writers say in a book published today . jack the ripper , the victorian murderer who terrorized london 99 years ago and was never caught , was a failed barrister and schoolmaster named montague john druitt , two writers say in a book published today . scotland_yard and the london police knew it was druitt who killed and mutilated five prostitutes in the whitechapel slum district , according to the two writers , martin howells and keith skinner , in their book , ''the ripper legacy the life and death of jack the ripper . '' ''but the authorities kept quiet because druitt was friendly with a lot of important people who were homosexuals , '' mr . howells told the associated press . he said the important people had included queen_victoria 's grandson , the duke of clarence . ''when druitt was found dead in the river thames in 1888 , soon after the last murder , the yard was able to close its file on the ripper , satisfied the affair was over but leaving the public in ignorance , '' the writer said . official files on the ripper remain secret . mr . howells and mr . skinner base their claim on notes left to his daughter by sir melville macnaghten , who led the yard 's detectives . other writers have identified druitt as the ripper , but mr . howells and mr . skinner say they are the first to suggest he was murdered by a highly placed associate . as their suspect in the death of druitt , the authors point to henry francis wilson , who they say was a lover of the duke of clarence .

the state_senate voted by 34 0 in favor of ethics reform this past week . but our legislative leaders missed a huge opportunity to convince voters that they ca n't be bought by taking real ethical action and breaking ranks with big tobacco in favor of a ban on smoking in all workplaces . the new jersey smoke free air act was expected to be considered by the senate health committee on the same day that the full senate acted on the ethics package . there was a lot of lip service paid to changing the way trenton does business , but , at the end of the day , the legislature sidestepped taking comprehensive action on smoke free workplaces in favor of a most welcome , commendable yet limited ban on smoking in college dormitories . more must be done . as a champion of ethics reform , acting gov . richard j . codey is in the position to lead the charge for smoke free workplaces and send a clear message that new jersey 's citizens will always come before special interests . the pressure to act on this measure has never been greater . the health benefits are indisputable 74 percent of new jersey voters support a smoke free workplace law similar measures in other states continue to show an economic upside and the growing movement for smoke free workplaces across the region , nation and world has even hit cuba , which adopted smoking restrictions last month . governments can no longer ignore the arguments for smoke free legislation . secondhand smoke causes lung_cancer , heart_disease and serious respiratory illnesses , and is responsible for thousands of deaths each year . many scientific studies in peer reviewed journals have established a causal link between secondhand smoke and lung_cancer , heart_disease , chronic lung ailments like bronchitis and asthma ( particularly among children ) and low_birth_weight . exposure to secondhand smoke has been estimated to result in as many as 65 , 000 annual deaths in the united_states and diseases in more than a million children . in new jersey alone , secondhand smoke may claim the lives of as many as 1 , 790 people this year . but few really dispute the health consequences of secondhand smoke anymore . much of the criticism about indoor air laws has focused on the predictions of business losses for bars and restaurants . but reliable economic data from states where clean indoor air laws have taken hold show that just the opposite is happening . data from the new york city department of health and mental_hygiene one year after the ban there took effect show that businesses are not suffering receipts are up 8.7 percent in restaurants and bars , which have added 10 , 600 jobs . in california , the bar and restaurant industries continued to grow after a workplace smoking_ban . by the end of 2001 , revenues from restaurants and bars in california had jumped to 36 . 8 billion from 25 . 5 billion in 1995 . the number of eating and drinking establishments also grew after the smoke free law was enacted . in fact , 140 more bars existed in 2001 than in 1997 , right before the smoke free law took effect for bars and taverns . smoke free workplace legislation has also been a boon for delaware . data compiled by the delaware division of public_health and division of revenue show that the number of restaurant , tavern and taproom licenses in delaware has increased since a smoke free law passed . the number of restaurant licenses increased from 3 , 291 in november 2002 to 3 , 323 in october of 2003 . employment within the hospitality industry increased as well . if the benefits to workers and business are so compelling , what holds back our elected officials in trenton ? could it be the ethics thing ? the only negative effect of smoke free air laws and policies is on the bottom line of tobacco companies . that 's why the tobacco_industry and its allies have spent millions of dollars to try to influence legislation and lawmakers in new jersey . trenton is so inured to tobacco influence that it does n't even sense when the tide has turned . even big tobacco appears to have thrown in the towel in december , philip_morris made it a corporate policy to no longer oppose bans on smoking in the workplace . everyone in the state house is vying to become the redeemer who dismantles new jersey 's pay to play system . but real ethics reform is about more than political rhetoric and having your name on the top of a bill . it 's about having the courage to implement and execute meaningful policy changes that benefit the citizenry in the face of deep pockets trying to persuade you to do otherwise . the vote on new jersey 's smoke free air act will be an early barometer on change in trenton . senator joseph vitale , chairman of the health committee , has publicly pledged a commitment from mr . codey ensuring that this bill will be voted on the next time the committee meets , which could be as early as the middle of this month . on march 14 , we 'll get a chance to see just how committed mr . codey and our legislators are to true ethics reform . soapbox alfred r . ashford is the chief_medical_officer of the american_cancer_society of new york and new jersey .

nearly a decade after they were cast into exile for foisting a politically disastrous tax increase on an unsuspecting public , new jersey democrats finally completed their escape from the doghouse of state politics today . buoyed by james e . mcgreevey 's comfortable margin of victory in the governor 's race , democrats wrested control of the assembly from the republicans , and achieved at least a_20 20 split in the state_senate . the new balance of power in trenton will give democrats the predominant role in setting the state 's agenda for the first time since 1993 . mr . mcgreevey 's win was so decisive that party leaders were quick to cast the victory as a mandate , and on monday , terry_mcauliffe , chairman of the democratic national committee , was already proclaiming that the opinion_polls were a ' 'referendum on the republicans' stale ideas . '' but many nonpartisan political analysts say the election results were less an indictment of republican rule than a return to political equilibrium in new jersey , a state that generally leans slightly democratic . ''most new jersey voters no longer remember that it was jim_florio and the democrats who pushed the tax increase , but after 10 years of prosperity , people still have their two cars and their three television sets , '' said gerald m . pomper , a professor of political_science at rutgers_university . ''and after eight years of republicans in power , i think it was natural for people to want to give the democrats a chance again . '' that return of the political pendulum was nudged along by a newly redrawn map of legislative districts that favored democratic candidates , and the implosion of the state republican_party after christie whitman stepped down as governor this year to join the bush_administration . when new jersey 's tax revolt began to gather steam in 1991 , it was hard to envision the day when the state 's volatile electorate might be willing to forgive . the revolt began in 1990 , when the newly inaugurated governor , jim_florio , rammed a 2 . 8 billion tax increase through the legislature at a time when democrats controlled both houses . antitax groups and talk_radio hosts harnessed the widespread public anger . in 1991 , the voters' wrath boiled over into an electoral disaster for democrats , who lost control of both houses of the legislature . in 1993 , mr . florio himself was defeated by mrs . whitman , beginning an eight year period of total republican control in the state house . mr . mcgreevey 's republican opponent , bret d . schundler , tried to rekindle that anger during this fall 's campaign , reminding voters that his opponent had voted for the tax increase and warning that mr . mcgreevey would ''be worse than jim_florio . '' but time appeared to have taken the sting from those words , and some polls showed that even many of mr . schundler 's supporters expected a tax increase regardless of who won . as an advocate of looser gun_control laws and an opponent of abortion rights , mr . schundler was anathema to the moderates who have long made up new jersey 's republican establishment . the party offered mr . schundler little financial support it was already weakened by mrs . whitman 's departure and acting gov . donald t . difrancesco 's abrupt withdrawal from the race after questions were raised about several of his business deals . and despite eight years of solid growth in the state 's economy , republicans did not solve its most enduring problems school financing , suburban_sprawl , high property_taxes and the nation 's most expensive auto_insurance rates . ''i do n't think there was much affection for governor whitman or the republicans , '' said prof . james w . hughes , dean of the bloustein school of planning and public_policy at rutgers . ''there was no mourning or celebration or anything really . she was just gone . and schundler came from a conservative wing of the party that even new jersey republicans never fully embraced . '' now that democrats have returned to power , however , they inherit a daunting set of political challenges . after years of unparalleled prosperity , statistics from the state labor department show that the economic slowdown has cost new jersey 27 , 000 jobs this year . republicans increased the state debt in the past eight years , leaving the administration little room for new borrowing should tax revenues decline . the sept . 11 terror attack and the high cost of increased security are also likely to drain the state budget , forcing the incoming administration to choose among tax increases , borrowing and deep cuts in services . ''in some ways , the democrats might be better off if the republicans control at least one house of the legislature , '' said david p . rebovich , a political_science professor at rider_university . ''that way , if there are tax increases , they can share the blame and everyone walks the plank together . '' but after 10 years as political outcasts , democrats have vowed not to repeat the mistakes of 1990 . while mr . mcgreevey would not join mr . schundler in pledging not to raise taxes , he made it clear that he would consider it only as a last resort . likewise , assemblyman joseph j . roberts jr . , the state democratic chairman , managed to discuss the subject at length this week without ever uttering the dreaded t word . ''i have absolutely no expectations that under any circumstances will jim_mcgreevey have to take any such steps , '' he said . ''the lesson of 10 years ago is that if , at some point in the future , there is a need to take those measures , it would be done only after every other alternative had been exhausted and if people were overwhelmingly in favor of it . '' the 2001 elections news analysis.

on a traditional battlefield , the goal is to seize territory , but in urban_warfare , government buildings , palaces and other multi story structures become the quarry . every building and every situation is different , but as allied forces march through baghdad , there are some standard tactics and equipment that they are likely to use . windows , rooftops , hallways and doors some strategies . . . downhill battle by taking rooms with windows facing the outside first , a platoon can effectively seal off a building and prevent any enemies inside from firing at friendly forces on the streets below . clearing the interior spaces can then follow . sealing the building although not always possible , clearing buildings from the top down is the preferred method . opposing soldiers forced to the upper floors of a building are cornered and may fight more fiercely . but moving down from the top can flush the enemy to the streets and expose them to support fire outside the building . entering with grenades soldiers entering a potentially hostile building make heavy use of grenades . a two man team will often clear a room by throwing in a grenade first . then each soldier steps across the threshold and scans from the corners to the center of the room . beware of stairs stairways can be particularly hazardous , because of enemies that may be lurking above . in a two man approach , one soldier will lead one step ahead of his partner . upon reaching the point just before the team is exposed from above , the lead soldier turns to cover overhead . handling hallways the urban battlefield presents a maze of corridors that must be approached methodically . on turning corners , one soldier will often cover as much of the near turn as possible , before both soldiers spin around the corner prepared to engage . ladder an 18 inch wide and 8 inch long compacted ladder that can extend to 18 feet in length . fiber_optic viewer a 36 inch long tube , with fiber_optic wires running through it that are connected to an eyepiece . it allows soldiers to see around corners and under doors , even at night . grappling hooks as wide as 10 inches , these can be used to scale walls or clear trip wires and booby_traps . soldiers toss them and pull to clear wires . robot these packbots weigh 40 pounds and are remotely controlled , sending images to a helmet mounted device that allows soldiers to see into unknown or hostile spaces . halligan a tool that combines a crowbar , a pry plate and a pick . the halligan is part of a larger entry kit that also contains bolt cutters and a sledge hammer . quickie saw a hand held power saw with 16 inch blades that can cut through concrete and steel . door ram two handles on a 30 50 pound piece of steel . laser range finder laser pointing binoculars with a g.p.s . unit that helps pinpoint the exact location of the lasers target . soldiers can then call in airstrikes or artillery fire with precise coordinates . ( tom zeller and steve duenes the new york times illustration by mika grndahl ) ( sources peo soldier , ft . belvoir , va sergeant john rader , secretary of the general staff , 101st_airborne_division united_states_army national training center , ft . irwin , calif . u.s . marine_corps training manual no . mcwp 3 35 . 3 , ''military operations on urbanized terrain'' ) a nation at war.

conflicting readings of inflation and consumer sentiment sent prices of long term treasury_bonds tumbling yesterday . fears of inflation , the bane of investors holding fixed_income securities , were raised when the government released its producer price index for february before the markets opened . in late trading , the treasury 's benchmark long bonds , the 7 7 8 percent issue maturing in february 2021 , fell 31 32 , or about 9 . 75 for each 1 , 000 of face value , to 95 15 32 . this lifted the yield to 8 . 28 percent , compared with 8 . 19 percent the day before and 8 . 30 percent a week ago . in the treasury bond futures market in chicago , the march contract , which expires on tuesday , declined 30 32 , to 95 14 32 . upset by price report according to dealers , the wholesale price report cast a pall over the bond_market throughout the session , although at first glance the data appeared bullish for the bond_market . among other things , the report said wholesale prices fell six tenths of 1 percent in february , the third decline in three months . but the same data showed that " core " inflation , which excludes food and energy , was up four tenths of 1 percent . the market had expected a rise of one tenth of 1 percent at most . " part of the shock came from the rise in car prices last month , a time when car sales remained dismal , " said kevin m . flanagan , credit market specialist at dean_witter_reynolds . " then we had the contradictory reports on consumer confidence . " the university of michigan 's latest index of consumer confidence soared to 80 percent , from 70 . 4 percent a month ago . but sindlinger company 's latest survey , also highly respected , put consumer confidence at its lowet level in 35 years . those reports overshadowed a government report showing a sharp decline in industrial production in february . such negative economic news would normally have been positive for the fixed_income securities market . dealers said some clients feared that the unexpectedly high core rate of inflation last month would inhibit further moves by the federal_reserve to lower interest rates . no intervention by fed but the fed did not intervene in the credit market , perhaps because the key federal funds rate , which banks charge each other for brief loans , traded at 5 15 16 percent most of the day before closing a touch lower at 5 7 8 percent . the fed 's perceived target for this bedrock cost of credit is 6 percent . meanwhile , the discount rates on treasury_bills rose modestly . the 90 day bills rose 2 basis_points , or hundredths of a percentage point , to 5 . 80 percent six month bills gained 2 basis_points , to 5 . 81 percent , and the one year bills also rose 2 basis_points , to 5 . 92 percent . among some closely_watched treasury issues traded in the secondary_market , the 6 . 75 percent notes of 1993 fell 2 32 , to 99 19 32 , for a yield of 6 . 97 percent the 7 . 5 's of 1996 lost 9 32 , to 99 5 32 , for a yield of 7 . 70 percent , and the long notes , the 7 . 75 's of february 2001 , plunged 17 32 , to 97 22 32 , which sent its yield rising to 8 . 09 percent from 8 . 01 percent . a week ago the yield on the long notes , which is often compared with that of similar german and japan maturities , was 8 . 12 percent .

saddam_hussein , who is expected to make the short walk up the gallows stairs to his death here sometime in the next 30 days , said he was prepared to die and sure of his place in heaven as a martyr , and he called on iraqis to unite , according to a letter that his lawyers said wednesday had been composed by the former dictator . fears that the announcement upholding his death_penalty on tuesday would set off violence appeared not to be immediately borne out . but officials were still concerned about possible public reaction to the execution itself , and some speculated that the hanging would take place in secret and be announced only after the fact . american and iraqi officials said nothing definitive about the execution 's details on wednesday . mr . hussein is being held at camp_cropper , an american base near the baghdad airport . although the site of the hanging has yet to be announced , the main execution center in baghdad is near his cell . in a drab concrete building , a set of steel stairs leads to a platform , about 15 feet above the ground . there , nooses fashioned from hemp ropes are slipped around the necks of the condemned before a steel trapdoor swings down . in his latest letter , mr . hussein displayed none of the bombast that had defined his court appearances . he was convicted nov . 5 of crimes against humanity for his part in the execution of 148 men and boys in the northern town of dujail , and he wrote his farewell letter at the time of his conviction , his lawyers said . ''i say goodbye to you , but i will be with the merciful god who helps those who take refuge in him and who will never disappoint any honest believer , '' the letter said . ''i call on you not to hate , because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking . '' the letter , which was posted on a baath_party web_site and received extensive coverage on arabic tv news stations , seemed to cause little public stir here . american_forces continued wednesday to focus on the mahdi army militia , loyal to the shiite_cleric_moktada_al_sadr . in najaf , which is the second holiest city for shiite_muslims , american and iraqi forces raided the home of a sadr loyalist , sahib al amiri , and shot him dead . mr . amiri led a well known social organization in najaf called the shahid allah foundation and was personally close to mr . sadr , iraqi officials in najaf said . while thousands of angry supporters marched in mr . amiri 's funeral procession , mr . sadr urged his followers in the city to remain calm . at the same time , he released a statement that praised attacks on american_forces . ''we heard that bush , the enemy of god , is crying over the killing of american_soldiers in iraq , '' the statement said . ''we ask god to extend his crying . we tell him that the killing of any iraqi by the hands of his army is a source of pride for us . '' americans handed control of security in najaf province to the iraqis in an elaborate ceremony last week , but local leaders questioned the significance of the transfer if americans could still direct raids there . ''when iraqis were feeling happy about the approval of the execution of the dictator saddam_hussein , they were surprised today with the raid on the house of sahab al amiri and killing him in front of the eyes of his family and his children , '' said abdul hussein al_musawi , the head of najaf 's governorate council . ''this horrible act shows how reckless the raiding forces are . '' american military officials said mr . amiri was responsible for planning and directing attacks using improvised_explosive_devices . they said that the raid was conducted with the iraqi eighth army division and that mr . amiri tried to flee when soldiers entered the house . he ran to the roof , was pursued and then aimed an assault_rifle at an iraqi officer . at that point , a soldier shot him dead , the military said in a statement . there was also increased pressure on sadr loyalists in baghdad on wednesday . throughout the day , american and iraqi troops engaged in actions against militia members around the sadr_city district in the capital , according to witnesses and iraqi officials . clashes between iraqi_security_forces and militiamen were reported in a half dozen other baghdad neighborhoods . government forces killed at least 32 people and arrested 39 more , iraqi officials said . separately , around 2 30 p.m. , a car_bomb exploded near a restaurant downtown and killed at least 10 civilians , an iraqi official said . one hour later , another car_bomb exploded near a bridge , killing four more people , the official said . the bodies of 50 people , many apparently tortured , were found around the city . in anbar_province , where american_forces are battling sunni arab insurgents , a marine was killed in fighting , according to the military . in washington on wednesday , a district court judge refused to intervene in the death_penalty case for mr . hussein , turning down a request by american defense lawyers to temporarily block the execution . lawyers for awad al bandar , a former iraqi judge sentenced to death along with mr . hussein , had filed a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf in united_states_district_court seeking to halt the execution on the grounds that he did not receive a fair trial . the lawyers , including ramsey_clark , the former united states attorney general who served on the defense team in the baghdad trial , maintained that the federal court had jurisdiction because mr . bandar was effectively being held in american military custody in iraq . the judge , reggie b . walton , rejected the claim , saying he did not have jurisdiction . but he did allow the defense lawyers to appeal the issue in hopes of persuading the american courts to intervene . noting that the iraqis had set up the tribunals by which mr . hussein and mr . bandar were tried , judge walton asked , ''why should i step in and interfere with the operations of a sovereign nation ? '' mr . clark said in an interview that he had filed the petition at the request of mr . bandar 's son after mr . hussein refused to allow him to do so . in a conversation in iraq at the time of mr . hussein 's sentencing last month , mr . clark said he tried to persuade the deposed leader to appeal to the american courts to block the execution . ''he said it would be interpreted as his seeking mercy from the united_states , '' mr . clark said , ''and he would never permit it . '' the struggle for iraq.

cecil_fielder , who led the major_leagues in 1990 with 51 homers after he played a season in japan , was among 26 players named yesterday to go to japan for an eight game tour next month . the team also includes the brothers roberto_alomar of san_diego and sandy alomar of cleveland and a father and son pair , ken griffey sr . and jr . , both of seattle . members of the 1990 all stars on the team also include the second baseman julio franco of texas , the reliever bobby thigpen of the chicago_white_sox , the pitcher dave stewart of oakland and the third baseman chris sabo and the reliever rob dibble of the world_series champion cincinnati_reds . the team will play japanese all star squads nov . 2 11 in tokyo , fukuoka and osaka . the japanese teams will vary from game to game . the manager will be don zimmer of the chicago_cubs . ( ap ) sports people baseball.

lead alaska 's annual grueling 1 , 200 mile iditarod sled dog race from anchorage to nome over some of the most remote terrain in the world begins saturday . alaska 's annual grueling 1 , 200 mile iditarod sled dog race from anchorage to nome over some of the most remote terrain in the world begins saturday . in the last four races , the winning driver has taken less than 12 days to complete the run . this is a far cry from the 20 days 49 minutes 41 seconds that won the first iditarod in 1973 . susan butcher was the first musher ( dog sled driver ) to break the 12 day barrier . she first accomplished the feat in 1986 , finishing in 11 days 15 hours and 6 minutes , and did it again in winning the 1987 and 1988 races . in 1987 , her time , still the record , was 11 days 2 hours 5 minutes and 13 seconds . in 1988 , it was 11 days 11 hours 41 minutes 40 seconds . butcher first began gaining recognition in 1978 when she became the first woman to finish among the top 20 . she was among the top 10 the following year , and in 1985 she stood a good chance of winning until a moose attacked and killed two of her dogs . that year , libby riddles was the first woman to win the iditarod , having pushed on in the final stretch relying on her lead dog to stay on course through a 70 mile an hour blizzard . her time was 18 days 20 minutes and 17 seconds . the first women to finish the iditarod , eight days behind the winner , were mary shields and lolly medley in 1974 . rrjoe runyan of nenana , alaska , won last year 's race in 11 days 5 hours 24 minutes and 34 seconds . butcher , who was ahead at the halfway point near the ghost_town of iditarod , finished an hour behind him . one of the reasons for this was that her dogs were weakened by a viral_infection . she gave them antibiotics and dropped two of the sickest from the team . mushers must have at least seven and no more than 20 dogs on the tow line at the start of the race and must have at least five on the line at all times . dogs may be dropped from the team at designated locations . one of runyan 's strategies that he believed helped him win was his large team of 16 dogs , two more than any other racer . he also strove to minimize the number of his rest stops . there is one mandatory 24 hour stop during the race , which can be taken at the musher 's discretion , and another , six hours long , at the white mountain checkpoint . near the halfway mark last year , the front runners were butcher and another woman , dee dee jonrowe runyan , rick swenson and marty buser . swenson , the only person who has won the iditarod four times , won his first race in 1977 . at the kaltag checkpoint , where the trail leaves the yukon river and veers toward the bering sea , runyan was only seconds ahead of butcher and minutes ahead of buser and jonrowe . swenson came in two hours later , saying that the northern lights had been so spectacular that he had decided to rest his team early so he could enjoy the celestial show . with 77 miles to go , runyan was five minutes ahead of butcher , whose dogs were still ailing , and gaining . butcher later said that she knew , at that point , that the race was his unless he ran into some major trouble . jonrowe seemed headed for third place , but four miles from nome she was passed by swenson when her exhausted dogs lay down . five hours went by before they were sufficiently rested to finish the race in fourth place . buser , whose dogs had also weakened , finished sixth , an hour behind lavon barve and almost 24 hours after runyan . rrall of last year 's top mushers have entered this year 's iditarod , according to pemmican beef jerky , one of the event 's sponsors . its product , a modern day version of the dried or smoked meat often from deer or moose and mixed with fat and berries once much used by native_americans , will be one of the foods carried by all the racers . the 77 mushers , including 7 women , for this year 's race start out two minutes apart , run a short distance and stop . they are then transported to eagle river and set forth again in reverse order . this insures that the first to cross the finish line has also posted the fastest time . there will be a 250 , 000 cash purse for this year 's race , to be distributed among the first 20 finishers . the winner gets 50 , 000 , the 20th place finisher 3 , 000 . organizing and staffing the iditarod requires the services of thousands of volunteers who must , among other things , man the remote checkpoints along the way and transport food and other supplies to those locations . many of them are still on the job long after the world knows who won the race . last year , the last place finisher came in a week after the victorious runyan . simply running the entire course is a signal achievement , and there will undoubtedly never be an iditarod in which that is accomplished by all . the iditarod trail was built during the alaska gold_rush late in the last century . the race itself emerged from the efforts of two alaskans , dorothy page and joe reddington sr . , a veteran musher . they were distressed that the snowmobile was making dog sled teams and mushers historical relics . together they inspired others to help them put on a 56 mile race over a portion of the trail in 1967 , and from that race and another similar one two years later , plans for the anchorage to nome event were launched . with the help of the united_states_army , the full length of the trail was reopened in 1973 and the first last great race on earth was held . outdoors.

a superior court judge on friday gave new jersey elections officials three months to prove that they had adequately tested the reliability of electronic voting machines or to remove them from service . the judge , linda r . feinberg , said that beginning in early may she would hold public hearings into the security and accuracy of the machines , which are at the center of a lawsuit against state officials . the suit , brought on behalf of critics of the voting machines , charges that the state did not properly certify the machines and that the equipment could not adequately protect against vote fraud . the lawyer who filed the suit , penny m . venetis , said in court papers filed last week that a princeton_university computer science professor was within minutes able to circumvent the security measures on the machines . new jersey officials are trying to meet a january 2008 deadline to equip all voting machines with paper printouts that can be checked for discrepancies in the event of irregularities . judge feinberg cited that deadline on friday when she scheduled the may hearings . ''i ca n't wait until a month or two before'' the january deadline , she said . ''i need to have a game plan in place . '' karen demurs , an assistant attorney_general who argued the case on behalf of elections officials , said that the state had certified the machines as long ago as 1987 . but judge feinberg ordered ms . demurs to provide proof that the machines had been examined more recently to ensure their accuracy despite advances in computer software and other technology . ''i did n't even know that we had electronic voting machines in 1987 , '' judge feinberg said . ''i thought i read the date wrong . '' although the state has not offered proof that voting machines cited in the suit are certified in new jersey , judge feinberg said that another set of machines , made by avante international technology inc . , of princeton junction , n.j. , is approved for use . she suggested that if the machines cited in the lawsuit , manufactured by sequoia voting systems of oakland , calif . , were not viable , she might require the state to buy more avante machines . the cost of such a move is unclear . but ms . venetis , who is also co director of the constitutional_law clinic at rutgers_university newark , said after friday 's hearing that the state had already budgeted about 21 million to upgrade voting machines statewide , including the sequoia models . that money could be better spent on a new system , she said . the hourlong hearing had only a few sharp exchanges , but judge feinberg said that because of the issue at hand , the lawyers should not retreat to their customary partisan roles . ''this is a public issue , '' judge feinberg said . ''we should all be in the same place and that is to make sure the voting system is reliable . ''

yen is up 2.7 percent . japan 's currency surged on higher japanese bond yields , which have doubled in the last two months and increased investors' demand for yen . in new york , the dollar fell to 112 . 05 yen from 115 . 08 .

stock prices were little changed today in tokyo . less than an hour before the close of trading the nikkei index of 225 issues was down 24 . 09 points , or 0 . 13 percent , to 18 , 584 . 00 . brokers said the market easily absorbed profit taking and futures linked selling but was losing steam after recent sharp gains . on monday , the nikkei index rose 232 . 14 points , or 1 . 26 percent .

administration officials squared off with leading senate republicans over medicare today , and the two sides emerged as polarized and suspicious as ever . republicans on the senate_finance_committee pushed their party 's core message that the clinton_administration was walking away from the financial problems in the 30 year old health_insurance program for the elderly and disabled . administration officials countered that president_clinton had " worked his heart out " for restructuring health_care for two years and now was waiting for congressional republicans to come to the table . but the administration carefully avoided committing itself to any specifics , and said the problems of medicare , which covers 37 million beneficiaries , should not be dealt with in the absence of a broader overhaul of health_care . among those problems is that the hospitalization trust fund is projected to run out of money in 2002 if there are no changes in current law . the two administration officials , treasury_secretary robert e . rubin and labor secretary robert b . reich , were summoned because of their positions as trustees of the medicare system . both said the cuts in projected spending proposed by the republicans , more than 250 billion over seven years , could have dire_consequences . but discussion of the cuts , perhaps the most politically risky part of the republican budget plan , had a razor 's edge . after mr . reich said the president was " willing and eager to work with congress step by step " on restructuring health_care , senator alan k . simpson , republican of wyoming , shot back " it 's going to be difficult to do when you use phrases like 'savaging medicare' when we 're going to let it go up 7.1 percent every year for seven years . " mr . simpson added , " republicans , the evil poops out here , are going to let medicare go up 7.1 percent a year for seven years in a row instead of letting it go up 10 . 5 percent or 11 or 12 percent . " mr . rubin replied , with an edge " senator , i do n't think there 's any question that the president has focused with enormous seriousness on health_care . he worked his heart out in the last year and a half . " moments later , mr . simpson complained that he had heard nothing but " evasion " from the administration on the problems of medicare . " i do know enough about the game , " mr . simpson said . " it seems to be the policy of the political people to sit back , wait and let the republicans make all the tough choices , seize the political advantage that comes from that , let them stew in their own juice , boil in their own oil . " again , mr . rubin asserted that the administration had made tough decisions with its 1993 deficit_reduction plan and had paid a political price for them . the political agenda of both sides in today 's hearing was clear . senator bob_packwood of oregon , the chairman of the finance committee , set the tone when he said he was " curious " about the administration 's plan to deal with medicare . he and other republicans , like senator alfonse m . d'amato of new york , returned to that point again and again . " do we just sit back and let this deteriorate ? " mr . d'amato asked . this reflects the republican position that medicare spending must be reined in , for the good of the program and its beneficiaries . democrats counter that republicans are simply trying to raid medicare to pay for their political promises of a balanced_budget and hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts . mr . reich and mr . rubin , however , did not carry the more overtly partisan message today , but rather the administration 's opening bargaining stance . " we all agree the medicare system is in need of change , " mr . reich said . " the president has repeatedly stated that he would like to sit down with congress to produce a bipartisan blueprint for broad based health_care_reform . " but , mr . reich added , " the clinton_administration believes that the financing problems of the medicare system must be solved within the broader context of health_care_reform . " while officials emphasized that the administration contemplated a more gradual overhaul than the one offered last year , they indicated that the underlying problem of rising health_care costs ought to be dealt with by broadening coverage to the uninsured and creating a more competitive market by new insurance laws and regulations .

with the giddy joy of a graduation party , some 400 students , teachers and workers emerged today from two weeks' quarantine at a university in central beijing , providing some of the first cheerful television images from the sars epidemic . even so , there were 94 more confirmed cases of severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome today in this frightened capital , and a communist_party leader said more than 120 officials around the country had been fired or disciplined for a ''lack of vigor'' in containing the virus or for concealing local cases . many of the students released from isolation at northern jiaotong university whooped and threw bouquets into the air , though others seemed more weary and left dormitories with bags of dirty_laundry . the city government did its best to turn the moment into a morale booster . a lineup of national and local officials gave short talks and then tried to lead the crowd in a patriotic hymn , ''sing to the motherland . '' students were given flags to wave , and young communist_party members and aspirants handed out bouquets . all of the nation 's major news_media were invited , and the scene was broadcast live on beijing television . ''i do n't know if all this ceremony was necessary , '' said liu qiang , a freshman in computer sciences , ''but we do n't care . we 're just happy to be let out of our dorms . '' some students said privately that their joy was tinged with anger at the official laxity in previous months , when sars was silently spreading while the government said it was contained . during their 15 days of isolation , the dormitory residents were allowed to play basketball or walk around in a courtyard . they watched television and had food delivered in , and most said that while it had been hard to endure their situation at first , they had gotten used to it . three dormitories at the university , which emphasizes technical subjects , were sealed off in late april with 373 students , 4 teachers and 23 workers inside after sars cases appeared . at least 12 students at the university became ill , while another seven are still listed as suspect cases , official reports said today . fan miao , a senior in the law department and one of those tapped to deliver flowers to the freed dormitory residents , put the most positive face on the event , saying , ''this is a happy day , a victory , one successful battle in the war against sars . '' a quarantine was also lifted today at a building of the central university of finance and economics , which appears to have been the hardest struck of the schools in the capital , with 19 students and staff members becoming ill and two people , both retired teachers , dying from sars . beijing , the new global epicenter of the epidemic , has not had much to cheer about in recent weeks , and today , apart from the relaxing of the quarantines at the two universities , was no exception . china reported six more deaths from the contagious respiratory_disease , raising the national death toll to 224 and lifting the global toll past 500 mark . shanghai , which has had only a handful of cases so far , reported its first sars death . the confirmation of 94 more cases in beijing was in line with the recent trend of close to 100 new patients a day , bringing the city 's cumulative total to 2 , 136 . overall , china has now reported 4 , 698 confirmed cases . international experts say they are unsure when the spread of the virus in beijing will start to taper off , as it did in guangdong_province , where the disease first appeared last fall , and then in hong_kong . the chinese government initially tried to play down the extent of the sars epidemic , especially in beijing . but in april the surging caseload in city hospitals and a growing global outcry about official dissembling led to a striking about face . on april 20 officials acknowledged that beijing already had several hundred cases , and the health minister and beijing 's mayor were both fired . belatedly the city began an aggressive policy of quarantines for people exposed to the virus , but cases have continued to surge . no other senior officials have lost their jobs , though many must have known the truth about the disease 's reach . but in many cities and provinces , a report from the government press agency disclosed today , at least 120 officials have been dismissed or disciplined for shortcomings in the sars battle . ''this is the first time in china that during an emergency incident officials have been dismissed for dereliction of duty on such a wide scale , '' said an unnamed leader of the communist_party organization department , according to the report by the official new china news_agency . the greatest fear of chinese and international health officials now is that sars may start spreading fast in china 's vast , medically underequipped interior provinces . so far , the most significant known spread outside beijing and guangdong_province has occurred in the impoverished provinces of shanxi and inner mongolia . the world_health_organization announced today that it was extending its warning against nonessential travel to inner mongolia , tianjin municipality and taipei , the capital of taiwan . there were reports today of another violent protest by chinese citizens trying to prevent centers for sars treatment or quarantine from being placed near their homes . the latest incident , in the city of chengde , 110 miles northeast of beijing , was one of several reported by foreign news organizations but hushed up by the authorities . rioters in chengde overturned an ambulance and smashed medical equipment and windows on april 27 , reuters reported today . twenty seven people are being detained for up to 15 days , and 13 others may face jail , a local official said . the sars epidemic china.

the world_health_organization restored toronto today to its list of places where severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome is spreading , after the announcement of a fresh outbreak of the disease here . the w.h.o . decision came less than two weeks after toronto was removed from its list , and just as canada 's largest city was beginning to recover from a serious blow to its economy . however , the w.h.o . stopped short of issuing a travel_advisory . the ontario health authorities announced over the weekend that there were at least eight new probable cases of the disease . two of those eight patients have died and several others are in critical condition . ''this was not expected , '' said dr . paul gully , a senior official at health canada , a federal agency for health education , at a news conference today . he said the risk of the disease 's spreading to the general population was ' 'minimal . '' the w.h.o . decision was announced by federal health authorities in ottawa , who said they were confident that a new travel_advisory was not pending . the united_states centers_for_disease_control issued a new travel alert for toronto late last week , delaying a planned television advertising campaign aimed at upstate new york , urging tourists to come back to toronto . the c.d.c . alert did not warn travelers to stay away , but said there was a health concern . a total of 27 people here have died of the disease , known as sars , since it first appeared here three months ago , making toronto the only city outside asia to be struck so severely . there were no new sars cases reported today , and all of the cases in the latest outbreak have been linked to one section of a ward at north york general_hospital , said dr . barbara yaffe , toronto 's associate medical officer of health . ''we certainly need to do more investigations still , but this is a very good sign , '' she said . ''we have no evidence that sars has spread to the general community . '' officials say the new cluster of patients , which could number 30 or more , has been contained in four city hospitals . more than 2 , 000 people who visited those hospitals at different times in may have been urged to quarantine themselves at home . the outbreak is believed to have begun with a 96 year old patient at north york general_hospital who died of what was thought to be pneumonia on may 1 after surgery for a fractured pelvis . after several people who treated him and at least one other patient exhibited sars like symptoms , the authorities concluded that he had died of sars . ''as some of the stricter precautions were relaxed and as some of our staff stopped using masks , very clearly some of them got exposed unknowingly , '' said dr . colin d'cunha , ontario 's commissioner for public_health . at a separate news conference , dr . donald low , chief of microbiology at mount_sinai_hospital here , offered another explanation , speculating that an undetected sars case may have entered the hospital ward as far back as late march , leading to the current outbreak . the disease spread to other hospitals by patient transfers . but the question remains how the elderly patient contracted a disease that was thought to be under control at the time . north york general_hospital was treating sars patients while the unidentified infected man was at the hospital , but on a ward several floors away . health officials are investigating the possibility that the man came in contact with a piece of equipment that had been contaminated by a sars patient . perhaps , officials said , the patient came in contact with a health worker who unknowingly had contracted sars but did not show symptoms . dr . gully said experts have concluded that the 96 year old patient at root to the new outbreak acquired the disease from the original cluster of cases thought to have been under control . he discounted the possibility that his illness was related to a separate importation of the disease by some recent traveler to asia .

strong demand for ships , autos and iron lifted japanese exports to a record high in october , helping to ease concerns about a slowdown in one of the most important sectors of the economy . exports rose a seasonally_adjusted 3.2 percent in october from september and were up 11 . 8 percent compared with the same month last year , according to ministry of finance data released on thursday . although exports rose to a record , the pace of growth slowed from earlier this year as demand in the united_states and china cooled . japan 's trade surplus expanded by 8.8 percent in october from a year ago , to 1 . 164 trillion_yen ( 11 . 32 billion ) . some analysts have feared that a sudden slowdown in exports could push japan back into recession after more than a year of recovery . investors have also been watching to see whether the dollar 's recent decline against the yen will slow exports enough to prompt japanese financial authorities to try to reverse the currency 's move . a fall in the dollar against the yen hurts japan 's exporters by reducing the value of revenues brought in from abroad . japan spent record amounts of money to drive down the yen and protect its exporters in march . however , there have been no signs that authorities have intervened in currency markets lately , even though the yen is above the level of march . on thursday , the dollar traded in tokyo near a 41 2 year low at around 102 . 85 yen . japan 's chief_cabinet_secretary , hiroyuki hosoda , told reporters thursday that the government was prepared to take action to curb the yen 's ascent . ''the rapid rise in the yen does not reflect fundamentals , that is clear , '' he told reporters . however , some economists said that thursday 's relatively strong trade numbers might persuade financial authorities to stay on the sidelines a while longer . the october figures showed strong demand for japanese exports in europe and southeast_asia . export growth to those regions could help offset expected slowdowns to china or the united_states . exports to the european_union gained 10 . 8 percent from last year , while exports to asia grew 12 . 6 percent . exports to the united_states rose 3.4 percent . total imports rose 2.7 percent from september and 12 . 6 percent from october last year on higher oil prices and an increase in japanese purchases of foreign aircraft . still , economists do n't expect japan 's overall export growth to return to the consistently strong , double_digit rates seen earlier this year because global economic_growth is expected to slow from last year . ''there 's no doubt that things are slowing down and that 's not a surprise , but it does n't seem that they 're slowing too much , '' said richard_jerram , economist at macquarie_securities in tokyo . ''it 's pretty clear that the real benefits from rapid export growth over the past year are fading away , '' he added .

the department of defense has identified 1 , 122 american service members who have died since the start of the iraq_war . it confirmed the deaths of the following americans yesterday baro , jeremiah a. , 21 , cpl . , marines fresno , calif . first marine division . hubbard , jared p. , 22 , lance_cpl . , marines clovis , calif . first marine division . the reach of war.

during a changeover in the middle of her third round match , venus_williams whipped out a notebook and flipped through its pages , desperately looking at strategy and inspirational sayings she had compiled for times just like this . in her first grand_slam event since wimbledon last year , williams struggled at the french open on friday . one glimpse at her opponent during that changeover showed how badly things were going . jelena jankovic , seeded fourth , sat in her chair at courtside , giggling . she stole glances at the box in the stands where a crowd of boisterous friends and family from serbia cheered and sang . she needed to bury her face in a towel to repress her laughter . jankovic had plenty to be happy about in her 6 4 , 4 6 , 6 1 victory that knocked williams , a five time grand_slam_singles champion , out of the tournament . going into the fourth round at roland_garros , the only american remaining is the eighth_seeded serena_williams , venus 's sister , who beat michaella krajicek , 6 3 , 6 4 , on friday night . ''i have really positive people in my player box , so it really helps me to play , and it releases the tension on the court , '' said jankovic , who referred to herself and her entourage as clowns , because they are so giddy when they are together . later , jankovic wondered why so many players looked solemn during their matches . ''why go to the court like you are going to a cemetery ? '' she said , grinning wide . ''it does n't make any sense to me . '' for williams , there was not much reason to smile . with her wrists taped , she remained stoic throughout the match , although she shrieked several times when her shots flew wide or long . her stinging first serve , which reached a grand_slam record 128 miles an hour earlier this week , did not rattle jankovic . neither did her powerful shots that landed in nearly every spot on the court . with grace and ease , jankovic returned those shots , skillfully and joyfully hitting on the lines or into the corners . without much resistance from williams , jankovic won the first set . williams recovered , taking a 3 0 lead in the second set before winning it , 6 4 . the third set flew by for williams , who was worn down by long rallies and jankovic 's ability to stay peppy on the clay . jankovic broke her serve three times . williams double faulted twice . her shots , particularly her forehands , often floated long . she hit a backhand into the net to end the match . ''i 'm disappointed that i lost , but i feel like i 'm playing well , '' williams said . ''i think i just got a little bit tired at the end , too . it 's tough on clay . '' williams , who turns 27 this month , had played the 22 year old jankovic four times before . jankovic now has a 3 2 edge , having won their past three matches . in april , jankovic beat williams in the semifinals of the clay_court event in charleston , s.c . jankovic also eliminated williams in the third round at wimbledon last year , preventing williams from successfully defending her title . williams said that those previous losses did not affect the way she played friday . considering how much tennis she has missed in the past year because of wrist problems , williams said that she was happy with how she played at roland_garros . her father , richard williams , said he thought she looked intimidated . ''venus played with fear because she lost to that girl a couple of times now , '' he said , shaking his head . ''i 've never ever seen her play like that before . she has never been that scared of hitting the ball . ''if i was her and i kept playing like that , i would just quit . i 'd just retire . '' zina garrison , venus_williams 's coach on the united_states fed_cup team , said she thought williams looked strong , but that she lacked the energy to keep up with jankovic . williams lost a few pounds recently , garrison said , and that may have weakened her . garrison seemed impressed with every part of jankovic 's game , saying , ''it 's been a long time since i 've seen anyone who moves as easily as her . '' it has also been a long time since there has been a player as bubbly as jankovic , whose upbeat attitude seems irrepressible . her mother , snezana , takes credit for that . snezana jankovic , an economist in belgrade , serbia 's capital , said she made a point of reminding jelena to stay happy . she added ''i tell her , 'do n't ever cry about tennis because i do n't want to see your tears . when you cry , it hurts me , too . if you lose , just stay happy and forget it . if you are good enough , the results will come . ' '' notes both no . 1 seeds won matches friday to reach the fourth round . roger_federer , the world 's no . 1 , beat potito starace without breaking a sweat , 6 2 , 6 3 , 6 0 . justine_henin , the two time defending french open champion , only looked as if she had broken a sweat because it rained during her match . on her 25th birthday , henin defeated mara santangelo , 6 2 , 6 3 , while fighting through stomach cramps . ''no , it was nothing to do with my being 25 , although i 'm aging , that 's true , '' she said . she said that the cramps were probably a result of stress as she waited for her match to begin . tennis.

there may be no pitcher available who fits the yankees' needs better than daisuke_matsuzaka . so it came as no surprise when the yankees announced yesterday that they would bid on the rights to negotiate with him by the 5 p.m . deadline . the mets were also expected to bid on matsuzaka , but a spokesman said the team would not announce if it had . the texas_rangers said they would bid , and the boston_red_sox and the chicago_cubs were also possible bidders . in any case , the complicated courtship of matsuzaka has entered its next phase . major_league_baseball has collected the blind bids of teams interested in negotiating with matsuzaka , a 26 year old right hander for the seibu lions in japan . under the rules of the posting system , commissioner bud_selig will inform the office of the japanese commissioner 's office of the amount of the winning bid . that office will then tell the lions , who have four business days to accept or reject the bid . the lions will not be told which team made the bid , but the identity should not stay a secret for long . there is little doubt that the lions will accept the highest bid , and when they do , the team that made it will be notified . that team would then have 30 days to negotiate a contract with matsuzaka 's agent , scott_boras , who projected him as a no . 1 starter likely to command at least 10 million a year . if no deal is reached , matsuzaka will return to the lions and the major_league team will get its money back . the seattle_mariners , who did not bid on matsuzaka , paid 13 . 125 million in 2000 for the right to negotiate with ichiro_suzuki . the winning bid for matsuzaka was expected to be much higher , perhaps 20 million or more , and his status as a young power pitcher makes him compelling for all of the teams involved . for several years , the yankees have tried unsuccessfully to overhaul an aging rotation . but the signing of matsuzaka , along with the development of the right handers chien ming wang and phil hughes , would give the yankees a foundation of three young starters . the yankees have health questions about two signed veterans randy_johnson and carl pavano and they continue to negotiate with mike_mussina on a two year contract extension that will probably be worth 22 million to 23 million . nationals keep pe a waiting it would seem that the yankees' first base coach , tony pe a , remains a candidate for the washington nationals' managing job . but pe a , who has not spoken with the nationals in about a month , is not so sure . ''i 've spoken with them once , but i have not heard from them yet , '' pe a said yesterday by telephone from the dominican_republic . ''i really ca n't answer that . they have not made a decision . '' the nationals' job has been open since the final weekend of the regular season .. while the chicago_cubs , the san_francisco_giants , the texas_rangers , the florida_marlins and the san_diego_padres have filled their managers' jobs , the nationals have not . the oakland_athletics also have an opening that arose after the league championship_series . the washington_post reported yesterday that pe a and the mets coach manny acta were the nationals' only publicly known candidates but did not rule out the possibility of others . acta said tuesday that he interviewed with nationals executives before leaving for japan for an exhibition series . ''i thought it went real well , '' acta told the associated press . ''i 'm familiar with the organization . the whole process really impressed me . they have a plan in place , and with the new stadium coming up , it 's a very attractive job , so i hope i get it . '' executives honored the bronx chamber of commerce honored three yankees executives last night . reggie_jackson , a special adviser to the principal owner , george_steinbrenner , received the chamber 's legend award . randy_levine , the team president , was given the trailblazer award . ray negron , another adviser to steinbrenner and the author of ''the boy of steel a baseball dream come true , '' a best selling children 's book , received the humanitarian award . indians get barfield josh barfield , who as a rookie second baseman helped san_diego win a division title , was acquired by the cleveland indians , who traded infielder kevin kouzmanoff and the right hander andrew brown to the padres . the padres also hired a new manager . they chose bud black , the los_angeles angels pitching coach , to replace bruce bochy . barfield batted . 280 with 32 doubles , 13 home_runs and 58 runs batted in to help the padres win the national league west . the son of jesse barfield , a former american_league home_run champion , he also had 21 steals and scored 72 times . barfield will help cleveland 's defense , too . his . 987 fielding percentage 9 errors in 684 total chances was third best among n.l . second basemen . one of the indians' biggest deficiencies last season was their fielding up the middle , which should improve because of barfield 's speed and range . ( ap ) cubs hire hitting coach cubs manager lou_piniella completed his staff as gerald perry agreed to a two year deal to be the team 's hitting coach . perry , who was oakland 's hitting coach last season , served as the seattle_mariners' hitting coach from 2000 to 2002 when piniella was their manager . ( ap ) baseball roundup.

lead to the editor to the editor all praise for john russell 's compelling account of the new dangers threatening venice and other italian cities ''imagine venice as a floating disneyland , '' dec . 10 . as two writers living partly in italy , we wish to add our voices to the protest against unprecedented mass ''events'' planned for italy 's historic sites in a ruthless exploitation , by powerful investors , of that nation 's artistic patrimony . most of the ancient centers of italy are already overwhelmed by a volume of tourism detrimental to the monuments themselves and annihilating of their authentic context . the huge new incursions now proposed would add a scarcely conceivable degree of gratuitous destruction to the existing ill effects of natural decay , commercial and official rapacity , bureaucratic negligence , urban expansion and industrial development and to a rising phenomenon of attacks , made in the name of political protest , on prominent works of art an evil recently witnessed at florence and naples . against this onslaught are ranged in and outside italy , and even within italian official circles many responsible and energetic persons , who , together with private agencies working for cultural conservation , have sounded the alarm against the forms of impending doom eloquently described in john russell 's article . lovers of italy throughout the world should be aware that the new threats to that land 's historic beauty will , if not swiftly prevented , irreparably reduce the cultural bounty intrinsic to the italian ethos , inseparable from our concept of civilization , and enjoyed over centuries by millions of visitors . shirley hazzard francis steegmuller new york trouble in venice.

a trip to the bank once meant a journey into a roman temple or a florentine palazzo or at least a generously proportioned and luminous contemporary space with high ceilings and huge windows . today , a trip to the bank usually means a moment or two at something not much larger than a telephone booth . technology , plus a change in the way banks present themselves , plus shrinking budgets for expensive real_estate have left a number of big banking spaces vacant . because they were meant to be showcase tenants at high profile locations , the banks' emptiness is that much more conspicuous . chase_manhattan has left a large space at the avenue of the americas and 47th_street . irving trust has left the blockfront space one block north . a former manufacturers_hanover branch at fifth avenue and 57th_street has been vacant two years . and a goldome branch in the helmsley building , park_avenue and 46th_street , is momentarily empty . morgan_guaranty has moved its tellers downstairs from what was once a well appointed public banking room on the southwest corner of fifth avenue and 44th_street . bankers_trust has vacated its space entirely on the other side of the intersection . meanwhile , the landmarks_preservation_commission has proposed to designate several significant interiors the former greenwich savings bank ( now crossland savings ) at broadway and 36th_street , the manufacturers_hanover branch at fifth avenue and 43d street and the former central savings bank ( now apple bank ) at broadway and 73d street . whatever else happens , it is clear that spaces like these will not be built again . " the temple quality or the church like quality of a bank 's central office is a thing of the past , " said robert h . dugger , chief economist for the american bankers association , based in washington . " corporate presentation is still very important , " he said , " but the old style temple of finance aura is no longer appropriate in today 's financial environment . it reflects a static , heavy corporate presence which is simply not consistent with the demands for flexibility , adaptiveness and speed in modern finance . these latter qualities are what banks want to convey in their corporate image . now you have this cross current of corporate image joined with the facts of financial technology and cost minimization concerns and they add up to significant reductions in space needs . " " it 's a very difficult problem dealing with bank spaces , " said elizabeth rodgers , of rodgers mccauley , a retail consultancy with offices in new york and philadelphia . " they tend to have very large square footages . they have gigantic ceiling heights , which makes them extremely difficult to divide up , because you get terribly vertical spaces . they were built around safes that were put in the basement as the building went up . whoever re leases them has to find a creative new use for the safe or a creative way around it . " " the first thing everybody jumps on are restaurants , " ms . rodgers said , " because they can take 10 , 000 square_feet and they like high ceilings . but there is a problem . generally , owners like to put something in the space that keeps the image of the building and does not hurt office leasing . restaurants present their own set of problems , with venting , odors and garbage . and you have to be willing to make a fairly sweetheart deal because the restaurant market is off . " the president of the fifth avenue association , tom cusick , is optimistic about empty banks . " i predict they wo n't last long , " he said . " they 're very desirable spaces . i think they 'll probably be replaced by retailers which is going to help the avenue . " one of the most obvious vacancies is the 12 , 000 square_foot space left a year ago by bankers_trust at fifth avenue and 44th_street , in a building owned by silverstein properties . the floor has been kept open to view not hidden behind drawn curtains or painted windows and large signs proclaim " outstanding retail bank space available . " larry a . silverstein said through a spokesman that he would not discuss the space because it is under negotiation . the former banking room at morgan_guaranty , across the street , is going to be renovated and used by the bank , according to a spokesman , although it has not yet been decided exactly in what form . the jmb realty corporation has just taken possession of the 10 , 000 square_foot space that the chase_manhattan bank used to occupy in a two story wing of the former celanese building , 1211 avenue of the americas . " we 'd like a dry goods , upscale retailer , " said joseph wright , senior vice_president of jmb . " this is the most prominent piece of retail space on the avenue of the americas . it 's the beginning of rockefeller_center . " i do n't envision a restaurant there , " he said . " keeping in mind that this is the beginning of corporate row , we 're going to be very particular about the retail tenant we ultimately select . we have 45 floors we have to be concerned about , with tenants who will walk past this retail space every day . " in the mcgraw_hill building next door is a 19 , 000 square_foot space left by irving trust . a spokesman for the rockefeller group , vincent e . silvestri , said that the space was still under lease to the bank of new york ( with which irving was merged in 1988 ) and that rockefeller_center and the bank were " in dialogue " with prospective_tenants . the manufacturers_hanover space in the daiichi fifth avenue building , at 57th_street , has been vacant since 1988 . the daiichi real_estate company of new york has received inquries from other banks but is " not interested , " said leo henriquez , vice_president of daiichi america . instead , the owners are talking to a retailer , he said . an 11 , 000 square_foot space in the news building , at 42d street and second avenue , was converted this year from a citibank branch into a sam goody record store . " we had a head_start and knew it was a unique space , " said barbara winter , general_manager of the news building and a vice_president of lasalle partners , the chicago based firm that manages the property . she said management benefited from advance notice from citibank and had engaged in " very active , aggresive " leasing . " a bank was an obvious choice , " ms . winter said , " and we definitely surveyed them , but we did n't think they 'd be very likely candidates . i 've observed what everybody else has observed due to technological changes , they need less space . and i saw a fair amount of vacant bank space myself . " because manufacturers_hanover does not want to foreclose the possibility of reusing or even subleasing its airy , voluminous , second floor space at fifth avenue and 43d street , it is opposed to the proposed landmark_designation of that international style building . completed in 1954 to designs by skidmore , owings_merrill , the bank has the most visible vault in new york , at street level behind a window facing the avenue . " designation would make it exceedingly difficult to get any economic benefit from recapturing that space or re leasing it , " said gary roboff , vice_president of distribution services in manufacturers_hanover 's regional banking group . the palazzo like central savings bank of 1928 was designed by york sawyer , architects of the greenwich savings bank of 1924 , which is also on the landmarks agenda , and the bowery savings bank at 110 east 42d street , which is not . the exterior of central savings was designated in 1975 . its huge , vaulted interior is now being considered . apple bank , the central 's successor , has taken good care of this property , even forgoing bullet proof plexiglas that would have obscured the wrought_iron work in the tellers' station . but the bank is opposed to designation , although willing to talk with the commission about regulatory guidelines . " the designation will extend to tellers' cages , work stations and the arrangement of offices , " said shelly s . friedman of brown wood , lawyers for the bank . " the impact of designation on all of these should be discussed prior to designation . " " the banking floor is the guts of that building 's functions , " mr . friedman said . " the commission may have designated the dining floor of the four seasons or gage tollner 's , but they did n't designate the kitchen , which is the business center . "

facing the threat of legislation that could place stringent new curbs on political fund_raising , the two major political_parties and members of congress are rushing to raise as much money as they can during the first part of the year . traditionally , the months after a presidential_election are relatively quiet ones for fund_raising . but in the latest evidence that fund_raising has become a year round , never ending task , the parties , senators and house members are refilling their coffers earlier and more feverishly than ever . ''it 's a 24 7 operation , '' said representative thomas m . davis iii of virginia , the chief fund_raiser and election strategist for house republicans . ''with the specter of some kind of campaign_finance_reform , i think there is pressure on both parties to beat the clock , collect everything . we do n't know what the new rules are going to be . the more money you have in the bank wo n't hurt you . '' the legislation , sponsored in the senate by senators john_mccain , republican of arizona , and russell d . feingold , democrat of wisconsin , would ban the unlimited and unregulated donations to the political_parties known as soft_money . it would also prohibit lawmakers from raising soft_money for their political_action_committees , a politician 's individual political fund . last month , the prospects for the mccain_feingold bill received a major lift when senator mccain recruited the 60th senator to support the legislation , a number that can prevent a filibuster on the senate floor . it is still far from certain that the legislation will be approved by both the senate and the house , and president_bush has said he is opposed to some major elements of the bill . still , with the house and senate so closely divided , many lawmakers and fund_raisers are leaving nothing to chance . they are raising more money earlier in the election cycle . newly elected senators , including hillary_rodham_clinton of new york , have already established leadership pac 's to begin bringing in money , including soft_money . these pac 's are in addition to the normal fund_raising committees of members of congress . in interviews , house democrats and their fund_raisers predicted that they would easily outpace the 3 million they raised in the first three months of 1997 , a period that closely followed a presidential_election . republicans , too , party officials and members of congress say , are expected to handily top the 13 million they raised in the first six months of 1997 . the fund_raising committees of the two political_parties are staging gala dinners and weekend getaways at sumptuous resorts to bring in soft_money checks as well as the maximum amounts of federally restricted donations to individual candidates , known as hard money , limited to 1 , 000 per donor . the weekend retreats are often used to thank donors and ensure their willingness to continue their contributions . this month , 300 major republican donors will spend a weekend sunning , golfing and playing tennis at la quinta , a resort in palm_springs , calif . and over super_bowl weekend , 65 republicans donated 10 , 000 each to watch the game with speaker j . dennis_hastert of illinois , sleep at the dolphin resort in disney_world and tour the kennedy_space_center . democrats , too , have moved swiftly to tap donors . also this month , senate democrats will hold their own black tie affair at the mayflower hotel , which should bring in a total of 5 million , in both soft_money and hard money . and this weekend , representative nita m . lowey of new york , the new chairwoman of the democratic_congressional_campaign_committee , flew to telluride , colo . , for a ski retreat with the committee 's richest and most devoted donors , the kind who routinely hand over 100 , 000 for campaigns . then she will hit other democratic gold mines , flying to new orleans for the convention of the american trial lawyers association and on to los_angeles to meet with a.f.l . c . i.o . officials and hollywood powerhouses . individual trial lawyers , their firms and labor_unions are the most generous soft_money donors to the democratic_party . march should bring another windfall of democratic money a new york city fund_raiser by house democrats should raise 750 , 000 , and they plan to follow that with two formal dinners in washington , at which they expect to raise a total 3 . 5 million in soft and hard money . ''i frankly am trying to do as much as i can early in the year in all donations that are legitimate , '' said ms . lowey . ''unfortunately , there is an awful lot of money in campaigns . and republicans traditionally out raise us . we 're getting going because the stakes are so high . '' house freshmen , some of whom raised record sums to get elected in november , are jumping into the fray early , hoping to scare off challengers . a half dozen new members held fund_raisers the same week congress went to work in january , and one republican , ric keller of florida , who faced a tough race , started raising money even before he was sworn in . ''it 's important for incumbents to show they are going to be tough opponents by having a sufficient amount of money in the bank by june 1 , '' said mr . keller , who raised and spent 1 . 5 million to get elected . other senators and house members are also rushing to set up political_action_committees , the individual funds that can finance travel and allow donations to other candidates' campaign coffers . once used almost exclusively by party leaders , pac 's have proliferated rapidly this year , especially among newly elected senators . doling out money to other candidates and incumbents has become a popular way to win friends and gain influence . in addition to senator clinton , jon_corzine , democrat of new jersey , and john ensign , republican of nevada , have set up new leadership pac 's , which can accept donations of as much as 5 , 000 . senator joseph i . lieberman of connecticut is considering setting up a pac so he can pay for his travel to campaign for fellow democrats . mr . davis , the house republican fund_raising chief , said , ''it 's just another way to raise money to help the team and help yourself . '' the threat of the mccain_feingold bill worries the two parties , and their committees , for different reasons . both democratic_party committees and republican_party committees raised record amounts of soft_money for the 2000 election , 244 . 4 million for republican committees and 243 . 1 million for the democrats . with the loss of soft_money , house and senate republicans fear that the unions will dominate politics at the grass roots level . but republicans are much better at raising those coveted small contributions for individual candidates the hard dollars something democrats know could seriously hamper their efforts to win back control of congress . this puts democrats in the awkward position of pushing for a bill that could hurt them much more than they anticipated four years ago . ''it 's all out war , '' said a senior democratic fund_raising official . ''there is a consensus around that mccain_feingold is going to pass . we are doing as much as we can to collect as much money before the door closes . '' hoping to better compete in that war , democrats named terry_mcauliffe , one of the party 's most prolific fund_raisers , to head the democratic national committee , despite concerns that he is so good at the job his image has suffered . under his leadership , the democratic national committee , and its house and senate counterparts , are paying particular attention to those small individual donations . so far , democratic national committee officials say they are doing better than anticipated raising money through direct_mail and over the internet , mostly because democrats are so angry over the presidential_election and the selection of john_ashcroft as attorney_general . their internet drive alone has brought in several million dollars , officials said . ''if you go outside the beltway and talk to activist democrats , they are more energized now , '' said brian hardwick , the democratic national committee 's finance director . ''they are at campaign speed . this is the time . we do n't want to let this fade and not tap this energy . '' the republican national committee is also flush with money . consider that by the end of january , the committee had 24 million in the bank , compared with the 11 million it carried in debt in 1997 . with control of the white_house , the committee should have a banner year . senator lincoln_chafee , the rhode_island republican elected in november , said the parties and candidates are always searching for loopholes in their hunt for new money . ''now that loopholes are being closed , '' he said , about the possibility that the mccain_feingold bill would pass , ''the other thing to do is start earlier and earlier and earlier . ''

lead president_reagan used his final summit conference , in toronto this week , to hail once again the virtues of the market_economy . ''the economies of the summit countries have come roaring back , '' he said , ' 'driven by a common commitment to replace government control with market oriented policies . '' president_reagan used his final summit conference , in toronto this week , to hail once again the virtues of the market_economy . ''the economies of the summit countries have come roaring back , '' he said , ' 'driven by a common commitment to replace government control with market oriented policies . '' the summit declaration called on all nations to ''pursue structural_reforms by removing barriers , unnecessary controls and regulations increasing competition while mitigating adverse_effects on social groups or regions . '' to be sure , it is not exactly news that capitalists should praise the free_market . what is news these days is that the communist leaders deng_xiaoping and mikhail s . gorbachev , in their separate ways , are also promoting ' 'structural_reforms'' by substituting market mechanisms for top heavy state planning and control . whether this is the sincerest form of flattery or only the hypocritical tribute that communist vice pays to capitalist virtue is beside the crucial point that centrally_planned economies are turning to the market_economy . does this imply that the heyday of capitalism has at last arrived and that the ' 'magic of the market'' offers all the economic wisdom we know or ever need to know ? a distinguished student of capitalism , albert o . hirschman , professor emeritus at the institute for advanced studies in princeton , n.j. , said the virtues , faults and directions of the market society are intermeshed and warned that we should not be flattered by communist imitators . ''we should not forget all the things we learned about the market in the last 150 years , '' he said in a telephone interview from switzerland . in the title essay of his book , ''rival views of market society , '' professor hirschman explores four conflicting theses about capitalism . the first is ' 'doux commerce , '' or ' 'sweet business , '' and dates back to such 18th_century thinkers as montesquieu and adam_smith , who held that the market checks the power of tyrants , breaks the stale cake of custom , becomes a civilizing agent of great_power and range , and sets nations on a rapidly expanding course to wealth the goal now sought by capitalists and communists alike . it is the view also known as ''capitalism the creator . '' opposing it is the ' 'self destructive'' thesis about capitalism , held both by revolutionaries like karl_marx and conservatives like joseph schumpeter . it maintains that the very successes of the market erode the moral foundations on which any society , including capitalism , must rest . professor hirschman calls this the ' 'dolce vita'' scenario , with the accumulation of wealth finally enervating the spirit of frugality that is so essential to capitalist growth . the currently low american savings rate , sluggish productivity growth and dependence on foreign capital are all held to be evidence that the united_states , once the wealthiest of nations , has been undermined by the ' 'dolce vita'' and perhaps that japan , too , will eventually fall victim to its success . the third view is the ''feudal shackles'' thesis . it holds that many countries penetrated by capitalism get into serious trouble because the penetration does not go far enough to extirpate feudal or military remnants of the old order . the failures of the market society in many countries of africa , latin_america and asia fit this thesis . a particularly vexatious case for the united_states these days is that of panama , where gen . manuel antonio noriega dominates the weak and reformist forces of the business society . ironically , it may also prove to apply to the soviet_union and china , gripped not by feudal but by stalinist and maoist political , military and bureaucratic shackles . fourth comes its opposite , the ''feudal blessings'' thesis . the chief advocate of this doctrine , the harvard political_scientist louis hartz , argued that many evils have befallen america especially a sterile ''tyranny of the majority'' because of its lack of feudal remnants and aristocratic traditions . the so called ''american establishment'' has sought to construct a public philosophy that would supervene the unbridled pursuit of self interest by economic and bureaucratic interest groups . such thinking marked president eisenhower 's warning against a military industrial complex , and the current military bribery scandals demonstrate what he was worried about . each thesis about the market society contains elements of truth none contains the whole truth . each needs to be complemented by the others , however contradictory they seem . alas , there is no way to escape the complexity of the market society , which makes predicting the outcomes of current processes so difficult . ''but after so many failed prophecies , '' mr . hirschman says , ''is it not in the interest of social_science to embrace complexity , be it at some sacrifice of its claim to predictive power ? ''

as the united_nations deadline approaches for iraqi troops to leave kuwait , the bush_administration 's political oratory has run ahead of its military preparations for a possible war in the persian_gulf . in an effort to build pressure on president saddam_hussein of iraq , the administration has publicly left open the possibility of a military attack against iraqi forces shortly after the united_nations deadline of jan . 15 . but the administration 's implied threat of speedy military action has for some time been regarded as unrealistic by many american military commanders , particularly those who lead ground forces . the split between the diplomatic need for heavy pressure on iraq and the american military 's insistence on additional time to get ready for battle came into view last week after an army general , calvin a . h . waller , deputy commander of american_forces in the gulf , said in public that not all american_forces would be combat ready by mid january . public_relations firepower general waller 's comments appeared to surprise the white_house , which scrambled to dispel any suggestion that president_bush would be discouraged from using military force shortly after the jan . 15 deadline . and today , senior administration officials asserted that the president did not feel constrained by the recommendations by the military to wait , saying that the military always wants more time to get ready . but military officials at the pentagon were surprised only by the candor , and not the content , of general waller 's comments , which generally echoed private assessments by army and marine officials that additional time was needed to prepare . in the military 's view , the need for more time revolves around the continuing deployment of american ground troops , which now number at least 230 , 000 soldiers and marines in saudi_arabia and will grow substantially as additional armored divisions and marine units are sent to the kingdom . the pentagon today estimated that the total strength of the american force , including sailors and airmen , is 300 , 000 . with more than 1 , 000 aircraft , the united_states already has a powerful air_force in the persian gulf_region , and more planes are being sent . british air commanders , some former pentagon officials and the former air_force chief of staff , gen . michael j . dugan , have argued that air power can be largely relied on to destroy iraq 's military ability . but this view has been rejected by gen . colin l . powell , chairman of the joint_chiefs_of_staff , and gen . h . norman_schwarzkopf , who commands all american_forces in the gulf_region . not just sending them over for those military officials who argued that more time is needed , the issue is not so much that the additional land forces will not be there in time . they expect the main troop_movements to be completed by mid january . a spokesman for the military sealift command said today that the transport of army reinforcements was on track , despite reports that bad_weather has delayed shipment of army materiel from europe to the persian_gulf . and maj . gen . dane starling , director of logistics for american_forces in the gulf , also asserted in a briefing in riyadh today that bad_weather in europe has not slowed the buildup in the gulf . but getting the land forces to the gulf is only part of the task of getting the troops ready for combat . once in saudi_arabia , time is needed to organize the new forces , test fire their equipment , get acquainted with desert conditions , and build up ammunition stocks in northern areas . " the idea right along has been that the troops would arrive by mid january , " a senior american military official said . " but implicit in this was that there would still be an additional period for marrying the troops that are flown in with the equipment that is sent by sea , getting the troops acclimated , doing training , and setting up supply dumps that would support offensive operations . " not a ploy , pentagon says in the military view , the call for additional time to prepare for a possible war with iraq is not a ploy to give more time for negotiations . nor is it a effort to lull president hussein into complacency before hitting him with a surprise attack . it is simply part of the unglamorous reality of moving tens of thousands of men and thousands of tanks to a distant area and organizing them into a fighting force . and since the plan is that military action against iraq will be taken at a time of the united_states' choosing , the american military , which by and large is not eager to plunge into a war with iraq , also wants the maximum time available to get ready . the military 's insistence on taking more time to prepare is bound to be the focus of continuing debate . critics of the military are already charging the generals with " mcclellanism , " a reference to gen . george b . mcclellan , the commander of the union 's army of the potomac , who was accused by lincoln of overcautiously assembling forces instead of attacking . bush may ignore military advice and white_house officials , who assert that president_bush does not feel constrained by the military 's recommendation to wait are likely to be assailed by their critics for demonstrating false bravado . unless mr . bush resorts to air power , he is unlikely to take the politically risky step of ordering an attack involving ground forces , one that would inevitably entail american casualties , before his generals say they are ready . but all the debate over the exact time when american_forces will be fully ready should not obscure the larger reality of the continuing , vast american military deployment in the gulf . this is a controversy about waiting a a few weeks , not a few years . the already formidable coalition of american and allied forces in the gulf is growing . plans for american troop rotations have been shelved . and the military momentum appears to be driving the crisis to a winter climax . standoff in the gulf.

for much of his 35 years in britain , mohamed_al_fayed , the egyptian born owner of harrod 's department_store , has been waiting in vain to be admitted to british citizenship and issued a british passport , for reasons that british officials are still generally unwilling to discuss . so last week , mr . fayed never slow to tweak the british authorities and remind them of his plight seized a chance to help others facing delays with their passports . huge lines have been building at government offices because of computer problems and a new rule requiring parents to obtain separate passports for their children . british citizens , who had been able to obtain passports in about 10 days , now must wait about eight weeks . the backlog has reached 500 , 000 applicants . in london , mr . fayed dispatched one of harrod 's distinctive , green liveried vans , laden with tea , coffee , sodas and water , to be handed out to some of those standing in line . ''i just wanted to do something to show solidarity with the long suffering public and do something to ease their burden , '' he said . alan_cowell private_sector.

lead the soviet_union said today that it would dismantle a disputed radar complex in siberia if washington and moscow resolve their differences at the geneva arms talks over the 1972 antiballistic_missile treaty . the soviet_union said today that it would dismantle a disputed radar complex in siberia if washington and moscow resolve their differences at the geneva arms talks over the 1972 antiballistic_missile treaty . the offer appeared to represent an important modification in the soviet position at a time when the status and future of the radar near the soviet city of krasnoyarsk has again become a central arms control issue . moscow previously linked the future of the radar , which has not been completed , with american plans to upgrade radars in britain and greenland . initially , moscow said the soviet installation would only be dismantled if the other two were also disassembled . the soviet_union has proposed other variations on this theme , including allowing all three of the radars . the united_states has rejected these proposals . to be done in 'verifiable way' viktor p . karpov , the foreign ministry 's top arms control specialist , did not mention the radars in greenland and britain when he informed reporters about the soviet offer at a briefing today . ''if an understanding to abide by the abm treaty , as signed in 1972 , is reached , the soviet_union will be ready to dismantle the krasnoyarsk radar in a verifiable way that would leave no doubts on the part of the united_states , '' mr . karpov said . the state_department said that it had no immediate comment but that a public response was being prepared . washington has repeatedly charged that the soviet radar is a violation of the 1972 abm treaty because it is not located on the periphery of the soviet_union and oriented outward as the treaty requires . the american side has told the soviet authorities that it would not sign a treaty to reduce strategic nuclear_weapons , currently under negotiation , unless moscow agreed to dismantle the installation . moratorium on construction the soviet_union has denied the radar is a treaty violation but has also imposed a moratorium on further construction . it has also contended that the american radars in greenland and britain are treaty violations . in his brief appearance , mr . karpov did not elaborate in detail , leaving open the possibility that his statement was not a complete articulation of soviet policy . it was also unclear whether the soviet conception of dismantling would be acceptable to the united_states . mr . karpov said it would be done in ''a verifiable way'' that would allay any american doubts , but he provided no details on how the giant radar would be taken apart . mr . karpov noted that work on the radar was suspended last october in a ' 'demonstration of good will'' and in response to washington 's charges that it was a violation of the 1972 treaty . the construction moratorium was announced by mikhail s . gorbachev in a meeting with secretary of state george p . shultz last october . american officials have confirmed that the suspension was in effect . debate on how to portray radar there is currently intense debate in washington about how to treat the radar when american and soviet officials meet sometime in the next two months for a periodic review of the abm treaty . some administration officials , including defense secretary frank c . carlucci , have proposed labeling the radar a ' 'material_breach'' of the treaty so serious that it relieves the united_states of some of its treaty obligations . the state_department and the joint_chiefs_of_staff have opposed such a course , contending that the radar , while a clear cut violation , can be dealt with in a less provocative way . the review meeting , which is obligatory every five years , must be held by early october . mr . karpov 's comments today appeared intended in part to neutralize the issue in washington and give moscow the initiative in public discussion of the radar . they seemed consistent with hints of a change in the soviet position that were privately conveyed to american negotiators in geneva last week , according to american officials in washington . in that exchange , the soviet negotiator , alexi obukhov , told max m . kampelman , the chief united_states negotiator , that moscow was prepared to dismantle radar equipment once an agreement was reached on anti missile systems , the american officials said . mr . obukhov reportedly dropped the earlier soviet linkage between a resolution of the dispute over the krasnoyarsk radar and moscow 's complaints about the two american radars . but he was said to have expressed the hope that the soviet complaints about the american radars could be addressed . other uses for the radar mr . karpov said moscow had not changed its contention that the radar was meant for tracking space objects and was thus allowed by the abm treaty . nevertheless , he said , ' 'demonstrating good will and concern in connection with such charges , the soviet_union discontinued all work on the krasnoyarsk radar way back last october and that moratorium is still in effect . '' a radar like the one that was under construction at krasnoyarsk , is believed to be for the purpose of early warning of an attack . but american officials said it could also be a useful part of a nationwide anti missile system if moscow abandoned the abm treaty . consequently , the abm treaty places restrictions on the location of such radars , stipulating that early warning radars must be located on a country 's perimeter , facing outward . the krasnoyarsk radar is located deep within soviet territory , about 2 , 100 miles east of moscow . moscow opened the radar to inspection by three congressmen , several experts and an american journalist last september . differences over abm treaty in addition to negotiating a treaty to cut long range arms , the two sides at the geneva arms talks are also trying to work out a parallel agreement on anti missile systems . on the abm treaty , the two sides have a number of important differences . chief among them is a dispute over how that agreement is to be interpreted . the reagan_administration has advanced a ''broad'' interpretation of the 1972 treaty , which would allow an expanded pattern of tests on an anti missile_defense system . moscow does not accept this interpretation and has advocated a strict interpretation of the abm treaty . the two sides also differ over how long the abm treaty should remain in effect . the united_states has previously offered not to withdraw from the abm treaty through 1994 , but has indicated it is prepared to be somewhat flexible on the period of non withdrawal . moscow has said that each side should forego its right to withdraw from the treaty for a period of 9 to 10 years after the treaty is signed .

the hunt for saddam_hussein ended late saturday with information from a member of his tribal clan . seizing mr . hussein , a man who one senior general said had 20 to 30 hide_outs and moved as often as every three to four hours , had become a maddening challenge . eleven previous times in the last several months , a brigade combat team from the army 's fourth infantry division thought it had a bead on mr . hussein and began raids to kill or capture him , only to come up empty , sometimes missing its man by only a matter of hours , military officials here said . but at 8 26 p.m . saturday , less than 11 hours after receiving the decisive tip , 600 american_soldiers and special_operations forces backed by tanks , artillery and apache helicopter gunships surrounded two farmhouses , and near one of them found mr . hussein hiding alone at the bottom of an eight foot hole . he surrendered without a shot . ''he was just caught like a rat , '' maj . gen . raymond t . odierno , the commander of the fourth infantry division , told reporters at his headquarters in tikrit on sunday . ''he could have been hiding in a hundred different places , a thousand different places like this all around iraq . it just takes finding the right person who will give you a good idea where he might be . '' in recent weeks , american officials had started a new effort to draw up a list of people likely to be hiding mr . hussein , including bodyguards , former palace functionaries , tribal_leaders and others not prominent on previous american wanted lists . after a half dozen raids and arrests , one senior administration official said , the crucial breakthrough came friday when a raid on a house in baghdad led to the capture of an iraqi who , under questioning in the hours that followed , identified the location where mr . hussein was ultimately found . ''as we continued to conduct raids and capture people , we got more and more information on the families that were somewhat close to saddam_hussein , '' general odierno said . ''over the last 10 days or so , we brought in about 5 or 10 members of those families who were then able to give us even more information . and finally we got the ultimate information from one of these individuals . '' officials have described the iraqi seized friday as a member of mr . hussein 's clan or tribe , but have not been more specific . the capture of the former iraqi dictator ended months of painstaking efforts to gather and analyze information from informants , detainees , interceptions of cellphone conversations and interrogations of mr . hussein 's family and tribal members . the operation illustrates a new style of cooperative american warfare . conventional army soldiers work alongside members of task_force 121 , a military special_operations unit that includes central_intelligence_agency officers . intelligence agencies that used to zealously guard their secrets now pool their information so troops can act swiftly on a highly perishable tip . ''saddam moves all the time , '' said one bush_administration official . ''our ability to locate him is only as good as the most recent intelligence . '' many details of the raid on saturday night the precise information that led american_forces to his hide out and mr . hussein 's movements since his government fell remained unclear on sunday . but top military officials here , in tikrit and in washington , say the operation that netted mr . hussein , labeled high value target no . 1 by the military , moved swiftly from ''actionable intelligence'' to capture . military officials said that about 10 50 a.m . saturday in iraq , the military command in baghdad received the crucial information about mr . hussein 's potential whereabouts . the mission to capture or kill mr . hussein , code named operation red dawn , fell to the fourth_division 's first brigade , commanded by col . james hickey . no iraqi forces were involved in the operation , american military officials said . about 6 p.m. , amid darkness , the brigade 's forces , including cavalry , engineers , artillery and apaches , moved toward their targets two farmhouses in ad dwar , a village about nine miles southeast of tikrit , the heart of mr . hussein 's ancestral homeland . two hours later , the forces raided the farmhouses but did not find mr . hussein . so colonel hickey ordered nearly two square miles blocked off , and an intensive search began . senior pentagon and military officials said the mission to capture mr . hussein followed basic procedures . conventional forces of the fourth_division secured the perimeter of the search area while special_operations forces in task_force 121 conducted the direct search . because the area to be searched was large , it was unclear on sunday_night whether soldiers from the fourth_division or task_force 121 had discovered mr . hussein 's hiding place , an underground chamber near a mud_hut and metal lean_to inside a walled_compound . the hut had two small rooms , a bedroom and a rudimentary kitchen . the bedroom was cluttered with new clothes , including t shirts and socks , some still in their wrappers , leading general odierno to estimate that mr . hussein had been at the site perhaps only an hour or so . an orange and white taxi was parked next to a sheep pen near the hut . the hut was near the tigris_river , and american_forces found several boats nearby that commanders surmised may have been used to bring supplies to mr . hussein . as american_forces closed in , two iraqis in the hut tried to flee , but were caught . american officials said they had not yet been able to identify them or their connection to mr . hussein . mr . hussein 's hide out was a shaft just wide enough to hold a man . general odierno said a plastic foam trapdoor covered the mouth of the narrow hole . a rug had been placed on top of that and covered with dirt , bricks and other rubble to try to conceal it . an air vent had been built into the hole . when troops opened the lid to the hide out , they found mr . hussein alone , looking ''bewildered'' and ' 'very disoriented , '' general odierno said . he had a knife , a pistol and a suitcase containing 750 , 000 in american 100 bills . he offered no resistance , identified himself and was very quiet , military officials said . ''the pressure had become so tight on him he knew he could n't travel in large entourages , so he did n't really have any men with him , '' general odierno said . ''he was in the bottom of a hole , so there was no way he could fight back . '' less than an hour later , mr . hussein was on an american helicopter headed south toward baghdad and custody at an undisclosed location . the capture of hussein reconnaissance.

the arrivals of reggie bush and alex smith at helix high school in suburban san_diego were greeted in a vastly different manner when it came to football . early in bush 's career at helix , the former southern_california assistant coach kennedy pola went there on a recruiting visit . the helix coaches pointed to bush and said he had the potential to become the best player in school history . in smith 's freshman year at helix , his father , the school 's principal , doug smith , took a look at his son 's lanky frame and recommended that he run cross_country . in the end , they played two seasons together before smith went off to utah . bush enrolled at southern cal a year later . the most improbable of football reunions will take place saturday night at the heisman_trophy presentation , as both bush and smith are among the five finalists for the award given to college_football 's best player . heisman officials said that these are the first high_school teammates ever invited to new york as finalists . ''when reggie was coming out of high_school , everyone thought he 'd be a guy who 'd be up for the heisman someday , '' said gordon wood , who coached both players at helix . ''no one ever expected alex to be able to do that . '' as a sophomore running back at u.s.c. , bush has emerged as the one of the country 's most exciting and versatile players . smith , a junior , went to utah with considerably less hype . since arriving , he has worked himself from a forgotten third string quarterback to the nearly flawless conductor of utah 's intricate spread option offense . both of their teams have gone undefeated this season , with southern cal ( 12 0 ) headed to the national title game to play oklahoma and utah ( 11 0 ) becoming the first team outside the six bowl championship series conferences to reach a b.c.s . bowl_game . the utes will play pittsburgh in the fiesta bowl . ''we took totally different paths , '' smith said . ''reggie 's a guy that everyone always expected to win the heisman and become a first round pick . and there i am in his shadows , a 6 foot 4 bean pole handing the ball off . '' among this year 's finalists are two pairs of college teammates , u.s.c . 's bush and quarterback matt leinart and oklahoma tailback adrian peterson and quarterback jason white , who won the heisman last year . but the most surprising teammates are the ones from helix . even the biased eyes of pam smith , alex 's mother , did not see this much football potential in her son . ''if you 'd have taken 100 people from helix , myself included , and asked them who would be a heisman candidate , 100 people would have said reggie , '' pam smith said . ''he 's been a star from the moment we first watched him . '' smith 's real potential lay in the classroom , as he graduated from helix with 64 advanced_placement credits and went on to get his undergraduate degree from utah after just two years . thanks to hard work and a system tailored to his talent , smith 's star is shining bright these days . there were smith and bush , hanging out and chatting late into the night at the college_football awards show in orlando , fla . , on wednesday . the two , who were a year apart in high_school , have remained close . smith still jokes that bush needs his help to get a date . bush still teases smith about his lack of speed . the two traded cellphone calls often throughout their seasons , and on wednesday night they caught up on old high_school gossip . ''we talked about all the important stuff , like school and girls , '' smith said with a laugh . the significance of the reunion is not lost on bush . his talent overshadowed smith in high_school , as smith 's primary job in helix 's wing t offense was to hand off to bush . ''it will be extra special to be there because of alex , '' bush said . bush 's season has shown that he is not simply relying on natural ability . he reshaped his body in the off season , adding 15 pounds to run better between the tackles . relying on power as much as his sublime speed , he has averaged 6.1 yards a carry . along the way , he caught seven touchdowns passes , rushed for six and scored on two punt returns . ''the biggest true gift that reggie has is that as talented as he is , he works as if he does n't have any talent , '' said wood , bush 's helix coach . smith has become the first heisman finalist from utah by throwing for 28 touchdowns , rushing for 10 more and ranking second nationally in passing efficiency . he led utah to its first undefeated season since 1930 . ''i could care less about the winning the thing i 'm just looking forward to the experience , '' smith said . ''i keep expecting to wake up , and i keep pinching myself to make sure this is real . now to be able to go to new york city and be with reggie , it 's going to be a lot of fun . '' football.

since mayor michael r . bloomberg is looking to cut more than 4 billion from the city 's budget , now is perhaps not the most logical time for a city commissioner to be talking about expanding services . but that appears to be the central goal of dr . benjamin k . chu , the city 's new health and hospitals corporation president . when mr . bloomberg chose dr . chu to take over the city 's hospital system , he set up the first smooth transition in a decade for the corporation , where leaders had left under fire or in a fog of scandal , usually only to be replaced by other short timers . dr . luis r . marcos , the corporation 's longest serving president , stepped down in january after a six and a half year tenure , during which he staved off mayor rudolph w . giuliani 's efforts to privatize the corporation and balanced its budget with less financial help from the city . but now , as the corporation faces its second straight year of losses and a continuing stream of uninsured patients , dr . chu is making the remarkable decision to add programs and try to improve service at the corporation 's 11 hospitals and 85 community clinics . rather than focus on where to cut , dr . chu plans to push for a bigger market_share in various areas of care and to attract and keep paying patients by adding new clinical services backed up by aggressive marketing , much as the city 's private , nonprofit hospitals have done for years . a result , he hopes , will be increased revenue . ''the truth of the matter is , '' dr . chu said in a recent interview , ''there are a lot of services needed in the community and it is up to us to help them get them . '' he added , ''if you cut and cut and you do n't build services , you miss out on not only providing services but also on possible revenue providers that help support the mission of the hospitals . '' after several years of operating in the black , the city 's hospital system ended its last fiscal year with a 72 million deficit , and is set to finish the current fiscal year about 200 million short . the corporation shares many of the same woes as the rest of the hospital industry reduced reimbursement_rates from managed_care companies , smaller government subsidies and a decrease in the number of patients , who now get more of their care in outpatient settings . but new york 's public_hospital system the largest in the nation also serves the largest share of the city 's uninsured patients , many of them ineligible for any public insurance program . roughly 10 percent of patients at the hospitals and 30 percent at the clinics have no insurance . by making a concerted effort in the last few years to enroll more eligible patients into medicaid the system 's uninsured patients fell from 560 , 000 in the 2000 fiscal year to 490 , 000 in 2001 and by cutting costs throughout the system , the corporation managed to stave off greater losses . a new government insurance program , family health plus , which will insure many families that earn too much to qualify for medicaid , will further help the corporation . however , this will not fully offset notoriously low medicaid reimbursements at its clinics or the cost of serving illegal_immigrants and other patients who do not qualify for insurance . additionally , with the mayor 's proposed budget calling for nearly a 40 million reduction in city payments for certain of the corporation 's services , the hospital system is still facing major financial trouble over the coming fiscal year . dr . marcos , the previous president , was constantly frustrated by reminders from advocates for the poor and uninsured that his system had a mission to care for those in need it was politically impossible for him ever to close an underused hospital or shutter a medical clinic coupled by his inability to wring more cash from albany or washington . ''the toughest challenge is to convince people that the wonderful mission of the corporation costs money , '' dr . marcos said recently . in cutting about 30 percent of the corporation 's work force , paring services and leaning on hospital administrators to find efficiencies , dr . marcos managed to keep his balance_sheet under control , but did not necessarily improve the reputation of the hospitals' clinical services , or please advocates . ''if you want to do a great job here , you have to be willing to take risks and burn bridges , '' he said recently . ''that is why in part i am now unemployed . '' dr . chu , who , the son of chinese immigrants , used the public hospitals as a child , said he was now charged with improving them . this includes adding badly needed services and reducing the emergency room waiting time that upsets patients and often causes them to never return to a public_hospital . ''i always tell people that we need to treat patients like you want your mother to be treated , '' said dr . chu , who has spent much of his career working with the corporation . before his appointment as president , he was senior associate dean at columbia university college of physicians and surgeons , where he managed the university 's contract with harlem_hospital , which is part of the corporation 's system . he also had several management positions in the corporation , was once acting new york city health commissioner and served on various medical faculties . among the initiatives that dr . chu believes the corporation should be adding are screening programs for colon_cancer and for cardiac diseases , allowing earlier detection of problems and more referrals to the public hospitals for treatment . although a large percentage of patients in the public clinic system fall into groups that suffer from heart_disease , very few such patients opt to get treatment at public hospitals . ''we are not out there trying to intervene , '' dr . chu said . ''i ca n't say there is any area of services i want to cut back on . '' how to pay for all this ? like executives at the private , nonprofit hospitals , dr . chu believes that public hospitals need advertising campaigns for their services as well as fund_raising efforts that appeal to wealthy donors . if other hospitals can give naming rights to wings of their centers to those with deep pockets , why not the city 's hospitals , he reasons , which is in keeping with the bloomberg administration 's desire to forge private public partnerships . dr . chu said he would also personally lobby for increased reimbursements from the government insurance programs , and look carefully at how the corporation does its billing , to make sure it is doing all it can to collect its fees . mr . chu will almost certainly be judged by mr . bloomberg , who is deeply interested in public_health , in balancing the mission of the public hospitals with the fiscal realities . ''dr . chu is a good physician with a very big heart , '' said dr . marcos , who once taught dr . chu . ''he is into new programs and improving outpatient_care , which needs improvement . at the same time , i will say he will have to work very hard to maintain the financial structure of this corporation . ''

capt . stephanie a . bagley and the military_police company she commands arrived in iraq in december 2005 brimming with optimism about taking on one of the most urgent tasks in iraq building a new police force . now , as the 21st military_police company approaches the end of a deployment marked by small victories and enormous disappointments , captain bagley is focused on a more modest goal . ''i just want to get everyone home , '' she said . in the past several weeks , captain bagley , 30 , barred her troops from foot patrols in the most violent neighborhoods and eliminated all nonessential travel . ''i 'm just not willing to lose another soldier , '' she said . the local police force in her region , as in much of iraq , remains undertrained , poorly_equipped and unable to stand up to the rigors of this conflict . it offers little resistance to the relentless sunni arab led insurgency and has at least partly come under the sway of wily shiite_militias . casualties are high , morale is low and many police officers do not show up for work . captain bagley , a west_point graduate and the daughter and granddaughter of military policemen , said she has come to realize just how little she and her unit knew when they arrived , and just how much was stacked against their success . the company 's challenges crystallized in a moment late last month during a routine assignment . some of her soldiers had gone to the baya local police station , one of 18 local stations in the troubled southern outskirts of baghdad where her unit has worked this year . they were picking up a contingent of iraqi policemen for a daily patrol of dora , an especially violent neighborhood here in the capital . on these patrols , the americans , swaddled in kevlar from head to hips , travel in humvees and other armored_vehicles . the iraqis , wearing only bulletproof_vests , ride in soft skinned pickup_trucks and s.u.v . 's , the only vehicles they have . the iraqi policemen begged the americans not to make them go out . they peeled off their clothes to reveal shrapnel scars from past attacks . they tugged the armored plates from their kevlar vests and told the americans they were faulty . they said they had no fuel for their vehicles . they disappeared on indefinite errands elsewhere in the compound . they said they would not patrol if it meant passing a trash pile , a common hiding place for bombs . the iraqis eventually gave up and climbed into two s.u.v . 's with shattered windshields and missing side windows , and the joint patrol moved out . one iraqi officer draped his kevlar vest from the window of his car door for lateral protection . during a lunch break , the officers tried to sneak away in their cars . later in the day , back at her command center on a military base in southern baghdad , captain bagley said the pleading and excuses were common . but she did not blame the iraqis . they are soft targets for the insurgency , and scores of officers have been wounded or killed in her area during the past year . the police stations' motor pools are so crowded with ravaged vehicles that they could be taken for salvage yards . ''i 'd never want to go out in an iraqi_police truck , '' the captain said . ''but we still have to convince them . we 've been given a job to train them . '' but she also points out that her orders were to help train and equip a local force to deal with common crime , like theft and murder , not teach infantry skills to wage a counterinsurgency campaign . captain bagley has spent most of her days this year shuttling from station to station , checking on her soldiers and meeting with the iraqi commanders to discuss their problems over potent , sugary tea . fresh faced and fit , her long hair knotted under her helmet and a pistol strapped to her thigh , she has moved through this loud and overwhelmingly male world with a calm , understated authority that the iraqi commanders have come to depend on . the government 's sclerotic supply_chain clogged by bureaucracy , corruption and lack of money has failed to provide the stations with the necessary tools of policing , from office_supplies to weapons , uniforms and police cruisers . ''even something as simple as a pen , they have to get it for us , '' said maj . muhammad hassan aboud , the commander of the belat al shuwayda station in southern baghdad , pointing to captain bagley . ''if we lose them , we 're pretty much going nowhere . '' the captain said , ''we 're holding their hands so much now . '' if the americans were not involved , she said , some senior commanders would not have the fortitude to confront the militias . ''a lot of times i 'm just the motivator , '' she said . ''i 'm motivated because i 'm going home soon . but what motivates them ? '' days earlier , she recalled , a death_squad had killed the family of another of her station commanders . ''yet , '' she continued , a tinge of exasperation in her voice , ''you 're given the mission to motivate these guys to protect iraqi citizens . '' at the beginning of her deployment , she hoped that by the end of the year the police would be able to respond to calls from any neighborhood without american help . but after the bombing of an important shiite shrine in february incited a surge in sectarian_violence , she decided that goal was unrealistic . she decided to focus on developing the top officers , particularly the station commanders . ''we realized that if we did n't have a strong leader , the station wo n't work , '' she said . but the interior_ministry , which oversees the police force , has frequently changed commanders , often citing reasons of incompetence or death threats , sometimes offering no explanation at all . the rashid station has had eight chiefs since it opened in late april . absentee rates there have soared as high as 75 percent , though the rate had dropped to 25 percent by late last month , in large part because the latest chief was docking the pay of absent officers . over the course of the year , as sectarianism spread in the police force , captain bagley saw shiite policemen balk at orders from sunni shift commanders and shiite station chiefs clash with their sunni deputies . she has also had to confront the creep of militia influence , as militia loyalists within the force used their leverage to avoid punishment or intimidate senior leadership . she intervened after a deputy station commander told her that his commander was being pressured by the militia of the shiite_cleric_moktada_al_sadr to free several captured militiamen . the men remained in jail . the job of inspiring her iraqi and american charges alike has become increasingly difficult as the violence has escalated in baghdad in recent months . as part of the american military 's push to wrest control of the capital 's streets from insurgents and militias , she was ordered to move some of her soldiers out of the police stations and into the streets of dora to conduct daily patrols . following an effort by american and iraqi troops to seal off and clear that neighborhood , violence there has risen sharply , and attacks on her joint patrols have become frequent . on oct . 2 , her soldiers were accompanying iraqi_police officers on a patrol through the dora marketplace when a sniper shot and killed sgt . joseph walter perry , a 23 year old turret gunner from san_diego . he was one of at least eight american_soldiers killed in iraq that day . numerous soldiers from captain bagley 's company had been wounded over the year in april , a bomb destroyed a humvee and tore off the driver 's left leg . but sergeant perry 's death was the company 's first here and it devastated captain bagley . ''people from other units will say , 'you 've only lost one ? ' '' she said , her face tensing in indignation . ''only ? we have n't had it so bad as others , but i ca n't minimize perry 's death . '' she paused . ''i 'm the one who sends them into the market . '' after the death , captain bagley started counting the days to the end of the tour and her company 's return to fort_bragg in north_carolina . she found herself lying awake at night , thinking about how to keep her company alive amid a worsening war . she started micromanaging her soldiers' movements . she tried to relax in the evenings by hanging out with her lieutenants or reading paperbacks that she describes as ''trashy . '' but the relief was always fleeting . ''i 'm in no sleep mode , '' she said . as the death toll among american_troops has risen in baghdad , and the security plan has faltered , captain bagley 's soldiers say they have tried to resist the urge to question the larger american enterprise here , whether it was right or wrong to come to iraq in the first place , whether and when american_troops should leave . they are here to do a job , they say , and are duty bound to complete it . but captain bagley has asked herself those questions ''all the time , '' she said . she ponders whether it has all been worth her soldier 's leg or her soldier 's life . she wonders what the american command will do to turn things around . loyalty to the armed services is in her blood . her father served in vietnam , her grandfather in world_war_ii . she grew up on military bases in the united_states and germany . her sister is an army nurse . she has served three other deployments since 1999 , and , partly as a result , has two divorces behind her . her phone_calls with her father sometimes touch on the faltering course of the war . ''he asks , 'why the heck does n't it calm down ? ' '' she said . she is at a loss to explain why . her discouragement is plain , but she keeps her deepest thoughts private , in part because she wants to protect her soldiers from doubt at this most critical time in their lives . she knows that their job is difficult enough without the suggestion that their sacrifices may have been in vain . ''you ca n't pass it along to your soldiers , '' she said . ''you ca n't question it . it would lead to the destruction of the company . you got to keep it together . '' the company has done everything it could to help rebuild iraq , she said , but now they want to go home . ''it 's been a very frustrating year , '' she said . ''we all want to get out of here . ''

in a city notorious for broken hearts , this may be one of the saddest st . valentine 's day stories of all a massacre . the evening takes place at rao 's , the tiny 105 year old restaurant and bar in east_harlem known for its exclusivity . no table available 'til july . the food is family style neapolitan . the clientele is italian and well dressed . our group sat at the table closest to the bar , between the autographed photos of robert goulet and dick clark . among us was a local tough who had made something of a name for himself as a hollywood stuntman . there was the hollywood actor who plays tough guys and writes poetry in his spare time . there was the actor 's wife . there was the man with the keen hearing . there were two russian girls from brooklyn who looked as though they were dressed for the roller disco . there was our man tommy noodles , who asked that his last name not be used because among his circle of acquaintances , vulnerability is a contemptible thing . tommy 's heartbreak began a dozen years ago as he was chasing a brazilian model around the world . he pursued her to paris , rome and buenos_aires . it was in brazil that he finally caught her , and she agreed to be his wife . it was also in brazil that he caught a tropical virus , a nasty bug that gnawed at the well being of his heart . within six months , he had a heart_transplant . ''it was true love , you know , '' he told the russian girls , whom he had brought along as valentine companions . ''true love . really . '' only 19 , the girls seemed as unimpressed with his reminiscences of amore as they were with the privileged surroundings . ''he 's told this story a hundred times , '' ilyana said in english . ''he 's even shown us photos . '' ''he 's stupid , '' valerie stated flatly in russian . the girls smoked incessantly . they smoked through their medium rare steaks and they smoked over their glasses of pink zinfandel . tommy 's lungs labored . ''i left my first wife for her , '' he told the table , clearing the cloud with a wave of his hand . and to prove this , he showed a portrait of the brazilian woman that was tattooed on his right bicep , above the name of his first wife that was tattooed on his wrist . the brazilian was indeed beautiful , if the tattoo is to be believed . ''anyway , that was 12 years ago and now my heart 's wearing out , '' tommy said between sips of chianti and forkfuls of chicken parmigiana . ''my arteries are 100 percent closed . i got two months left if i got a day . '' tommy said his brazilian beauty left him a few months ago . by his account , she is modeling for a new man in miami . this seems to have crushed his second and ruined heart . ''anyhow , she 's nothing to me now , '' he said rather unconvincingly . the girls were smoking like a pile of burning leaves by the time the coffee arrived , and tommy wheezed like a kazoo . ''listen , ca n't you cut the smoking out for just 15 freaking minutes ? '' he snapped . his teeth were showing . his chest was heaving . ''i 'm dying over here . '' he stepped outside to calm his lungs . the girls lit another one and asked for the steak to be put in a doggie bag . charlie leduff neighborhood report bending elbows.

anbar_province , long the lawless heartland of the tenacious sunni arab resistance , is undergoing a surprising transformation . violence is ebbing in many areas , shops and schools are reopening , police_forces are growing and the insurgency appears to be in retreat . ''many people are challenging the insurgents , '' said the governor of anbar , maamoon s . rahid , though he quickly added , ''we know we have n't eliminated the threat 100 percent . '' many sunni tribal_leaders , once openly hostile to the american presence , have formed a united front with american and iraqi government forces against al_qaeda in mesopotamia . with the tribal_leaders' encouragement , thousands of local residents have joined the police force . about 10 , 000 police officers are now in anbar , up from several thousand a year ago . during the same period , the police force here in ramadi , the provincial capital , has grown from fewer than 200 to about 4 , 500 , american military officials say . at the same time , american and iraqi forces have been conducting sweeps of insurgent_strongholds , particularly in and around ramadi , leaving behind a network of police stations and military garrisons , a strategy that is also being used in baghdad , iraq 's capital , as part of its new security plan . yet for all the indications of a heartening turnaround in anbar , the situation , as it appeared during more than a week spent with american_troops in ramadi and falluja in early april , is at best uneasy and fragile . municipal services remain a wreck local_governments , while reviving , are still barely functioning and years of fighting have damaged much of ramadi . the insurgency in anbar a mix of islamic militants , former baathists and recalcitrant tribesmen still thrives among the province 's overwhelmingly sunni population , killing american and iraqi_security_forces and civilians alike . this was underscored by three suicide car_bomb attacks in ramadi on monday and tuesday , in which at least 15 people were killed and 47 were wounded , american officials said . eight american service members five marines and three soldiers were killed in two attacks on thursday and friday in anbar , the american military said . furthermore , some american officials readily acknowledge that they have entered an uncertain marriage of convenience with the tribes , some of whom were themselves involved in the insurgency , to one extent or another . american officials are also negotiating with elements of the 1920 revolution brigades , a leading insurgent group in anbar , to join their fight against al_qaeda . these sudden changes have raised questions about the ultimate loyalties of the united_states' new allies . ''one day they 're laying i.e.d . 's , the next they 're police collecting a pay check , '' said lt . thomas r . mackesy , an adviser to an iraqi_army unit in juwayba , east of ramadi , referring to improvised_explosive_devices . and it remains unclear whether any of the gains in anbar will transfer to other troubled areas of iraq like baghdad , diyala_province , mosul and kirkuk , where violence rages and the ethnic and sectarian landscape is far more complicated . still , the progress has inspired an optimism in the american command that , among some officials , borders on giddiness . it comes after years of fruitless efforts to drive a wedge between moderate resistance fighters and those , like al_qaeda in mesopotamia , who seem beyond compromise . ''there are some people who would say we 've won the war out here , '' said col . john . a . koenig , a planning officer for the marines who oversees governing and economic_development issues in anbar . ''i 'm cautiously_optimistic as we 're going forward . '' a new calm for most of the past few years , the government center in downtown ramadi , the seat of the provincial government , was under near continual siege by insurgents , who reduced it to little more than a bullet ridden bunker of broken concrete , sandbags and trapped marines . entering meant sprinting from an armored_vehicle to the front door of the building to evade snipers' bullets . now , however , the compound and nearby buildings are being renovated to create offices for the provincial administration , council and governor . hotels are being built next door for the waves of visitors the government expects once it is back in business . on the roof of the main building , capt . jason arthaud , commander of company b , first battalion , sixth marines , said the building had taken no sniper fire since november . ''just hours of peace and quiet , '' he deadpanned . ''and boredom . '' violence has fallen swiftly throughout ramadi and its sprawling rural environs , residents and american and iraqi officials said . last summer , the american military recorded as many as 25 violent acts a day in the ramadi region , ranging from shootings and kidnappings to roadside_bombs and suicide attacks . in the past several weeks , the average has dropped to four acts of violence a day , american military officials said . on a recent morning , american and iraqi troops , accompanied by several police officers , went on a foot patrol through a market in the malaab neighborhood of ramadi . only a couple of months ago , american and iraqi forces would enter the area only in armored_vehicles . people stopped and stared . the sight of police and military forces in the area , particularly on foot , was still novel . the new calm is eerie and unsettling , particularly for anyone who knew the city even several months ago . ''the complete change from night to day gives me pause , '' said capt . brice cooper , 26 , executive officer of company b , first battalion , 26th infantry_regiment , first infantry division , which has been stationed in the city and its outskirts since last summer . ''a month and a half ago we were getting shot up . now we 're doing civil_affairs work . '' a moderate front the turnabout began last september , when a federation of tribes in the ramadi area came together as the anbar salvation council to oppose the fundamentalist militants of al_qaeda in mesopotamia . among the council 's founders were members of the abu ali jassem tribe , based in a rural area of northern ramadi . the tribe 's leader , sheik tahir sabbar badawie , said in a recent interview that members of his tribe had fought in the insurgency that kept the americans pinned down on their bases in anbar for most of the last four years . ''if your country was occupied by iraq , would you fight ? '' he asked . ''enough said . '' but while the anti american sheiks in anbar and al_qaeda both opposed the americans , their goals were different . the sheiks were part of a relatively moderate front that sought to drive the americans out of iraq some were also fighting to restore sunni arab power . but al_qaeda wanted to go even further and impose a fundamentalist islamic_state in anbar , a plan that many of the sheiks did not share . al_qaeda 's fighters began to use killing , intimidation and financial coercion to divide the tribes and win support for their agenda . they killed about 210 people in the abu ali jassem tribe alone and kidnapped others , demanding ransoms as high as 65 , 000 per person , sheik badawie said . for all the sheiks' hostility toward the americans , they realized that they had a bigger enemy , or at least one that needed to be fought first , as a matter of survival . the council sought financial and military support from the iraqi and american governments . in return the sheiks volunteered hundreds of tribesmen for duty as police officers and agreed to allow the construction of joint american iraqi_police and military outposts throughout their tribal territories . a similar dynamic is playing out elsewhere in anbar , a desert region the size of new york state that stretches west of baghdad to the syrian and jordanian borders . tribal cooperation with the american and iraqi commands has led to expanded police_forces in the cities of husayba , hit , rutba , baghdadi and falluja , officials say . with the help of the anbar sheiks , the military equation immediately became simpler for the americans in ramadi . the number of enemies they faced suddenly diminished , american and iraqi officials said . they were able to move more freely through large areas . with the addition of the tribal recruits , the americans had enough troops to build and operate garrisons in areas they cleared , many of which had never seen any government security presence before . and the americans were now fighting alongside people with a deep knowledge of the local population and terrain , and with a sense of duty , vengeance and righteousness . ''we know this area , we know the best way to talk to the people and get information from them , '' said capt . hussein abd nusaif , a police commander in a neighborhood in western ramadi , who carries a kalashnikov with an al capone style ' 'snail drum'' magazine . ''we are not afraid of al_qaeda . we will fight them anywhere and anytime . '' beginning last summer and continuing through march , the american led joint forces pressed into the city , block by block , and swept the farmlands on its outskirts . in many places the troops met fierce_resistance . scores of american and iraqi security troops were killed or wounded . the ramadi region is essentially a police_state now , with some 6 , 000 american_troops , 4 , 000 iraqi soldiers and 4 , 500 iraqi_police officers , including an auxiliary police force of about 2 , 000 , all local tribesmen , known as the provincial security force . the security forces are garrisoned in more than 65 police stations , military bases and joint american iraqi combat outposts , up from no more than 10 a year ago . the population of the city is officially about 400 , 000 , though the current number appears to be much lower . to help control the flow of traffic and forestall attacks , the american military has installed an elaborate system of barricades and checkpoints . in some of the enclaves created by this system , which american commanders frequently call ''gated communities , '' no vehicles except bicycles and pushcarts are allowed for fear of car_bombs . american commanders see the progress in anbar as a bellwether for the rest of country . ''one of the things i worry about in baghdad is we wo n't have the time to do the same kind of thing , '' lt . gen . raymond t . odierno , commander of day to day war operations in iraq , said in an interview here . yet the fact that anbar is almost entirely sunni and not riven by the same sectarian feuds as other violent places , like baghdad and diyala_province , has helped to establish order . elsewhere , security forces are largely shiite and are perceived by many sunnis as part of the problem . in anbar , however , the new police force reflects the homogeneous face of the province and appears to enjoy the support of the people . a growing police force military commanders say they cannot completely account for the whereabouts of the insurgency . they say they believe that many guerrillas have been killed , while others have gone underground , laid down their arms or migrated to other parts of anbar , particularly the corridor between ramadi and falluja , the town of karma north of falluja and the sprawling rural zones around falluja , including zaidon and amariyat al falluja on the banks of the euphrates_river . american_forces come under attack in these areas every day . still other guerrillas , the commanders acknowledge , have joined the police force , sneaking through a vetting procedure that is set up to catch only known suspects . many insurgents ''are fighting for a different side now , '' said brig . gen . mark gurganus , commander of ground forces in anbar . ''i think that 's where the majority have gone . '' but american commanders say they are not particularly worried about infiltrators among the new recruits . many of the former insurgents now in the police , they say , were probably low level operatives who were mainly in it for the money and did relatively menial tasks , like planting roadside_bombs . the speed of the buildup has led to other problems . hiring has outpaced the building of police academies , meaning that many new officers have been deployed with little or no training . without enough uniforms , many new officers patrol in civilian clothes , some with their heads wrapped in scarves or covered in balaclavas to conceal their identities . they look no different than the insurgents shown in mujahedeen videos . commanders seem to regard these issues as a necessary cost of quickly building a police force in a political environment that is , in the words of colonel koenig , ' 'sort of like looking through smoke . '' the police force , they say , has been the most critical component of the new security plan in anbar . yet , oversight of the police_forces by american_forces and the central iraqi government is weak , leaving open the possibility that some local leaders are using newly armed tribal members as their personal death_squads to settle old scores . several american officers who work with the iraqi_police said a lot of police work was conducted out of their view , particularly at night . ''it 's like the mafia , '' one american soldier in juwayba said . general odierno said , ''we have to watch them very closely to make sure we 're not forming militias . '' but there is a new sense of commitment by the police , american and iraqi officials say , in part because they are patrolling their own neighborhoods . many were motivated to join after they or their communities were attacked by al_qaeda , and their successes have made them an even greater target of insurgent car_bombs and suicide attacks . abd muhammad khalaf , 28 , a policeman in the jazeera district on ramadi 's northern edge , is typical . he joined the police after al_qaeda in mesopotamia killed two of his brothers , he said . ''i will die when god wills it , '' he said . ''but before i die , i will support my friends and kill some terrorists . '' the tasks ahead some tribal_leaders now working with the americans say they harbor deep resentment toward the shiite led administration of prime_minister_nuri_kamal_al_maliki , accusing it of pursuing a sectarian agenda . yet they also say they are invested in the democratic process now . after boycotting the national elections in 2005 , many are now planning to participate in the next round of provincial elections , which have yet to be scheduled , as a way to build on the political and military gains they have made in recent months . ''since i was a little boy , i have seen nothing but warfare against the kurds , iranians , kuwait , the americans , '' sheik badawie said . ''we are tired of war . we are going to fight through the ballot_box . '' already , tribal_leaders are participating in local councils that have been formed recently throughout the ramadi area under the guidance of the american military . iraqi and american officials say the sheiks' embrace of representative government reflects the new realities of power in anbar . ''out here it 's been , 'who can defend his people ? ' '' said brig . gen . john r . allen , deputy commanding general of coalition_forces in anbar . ''after the war it 's , 'who was able to reconstruct ? ' '' indeed , american and iraqi officials say that to hold on to the security gains and the public 's support , they must provide services to residents in areas they have tamed . but successful development , they argue , will depend on closing the divide between the shiite dominated government in baghdad , which has long ignored the province , and the local leadership in anbar , which has long tried to remain independent from the capital . if that fails , they say , the iraqi and american governments may have helped to organize and arm a potent enemy .

lead treasury note and bond prices slipped in light trading yesterday , despite the release of economic reports that were in line with expectations in the credit markets . treasury note and bond prices slipped in light trading yesterday , despite the release of economic reports that were in line with expectations in the credit markets . the slight gain in retail sales during march and an incentive induced pickup in automobile sales for the first 10 days of april did not surprise traders . but while the numbers suggested some softness in the economy , the market participants preferred to concentrate on the potentially negative implications of figures to be released today , especially producer price data for march . ''the numbers today pale in comparison with the p.p.i . , '' one government_bond trader said . wariness of price index the market 's participants are particularly nervous about the producer price data because preliminary estimates of the january and february figures were well below the actual one percentage point increases that were reported for both months . the consensus among wall_street economists about today 's inflation report is that producer prices rose by five tenths of a percentage point last month . in addition to concerns about inflation , rumors that the bank of japan might soon raise its discount_rate from 2.5 percent was another source of concern . ''a lot of people think that the japanese are going to raise the rate , '' said peter bass , a managing director at s . g . warburg_securities inc . ''that would force rates up here . '' michael j . moran , the chief economist at daiwa_securities america inc . , said that ' 'sometime in the near term , chances are quite high that the bank of japan will tighten policy . '' he added ''many indicators , including a weaker yen , the rise in the price of oil and very tight labor markets , are pointing to an uptick in japan 's inflation_rate . the bank of japan is looking to deal with all of them . '' few see fed move absent continued bad news on inflation , few of the analysts expect that the federal_reserve_board will be inclined to follow a tightening move by the bank of japan with another one of its own . ''there is no mandate for the fed to tighten now , and i have no problem with them standing pat , '' said sung won sohn , the chief economist at the norwest corporation in minneapolis . ''but i would have a problem if continued signs of softness in the economy prompt the fed to ease . '' the bulk of yesterday 's price decline was felt among longer dated treasury issues . in late trading , the 8 7 8 percent bonds were offered at a price of 97 5 32 , down 18 32 , to yield 9 . 15 percent . in the secondary treasury note market , the 9 3 8 percent seven year notes were offered on a when issued basis at a price to yield 9 . 40 percent . and the 9 1 2 percent five year notes were offered at 100 1 32 , down 9 32 , to yield 9 . 47 percent . short term rates up meanwhile , short term treasury bill rates rose . by late in the day , three month bills were offered at a discount_rate of 8 . 75 percent , up by eight basis_points , or hundredths of a point . six month bills were offered at 8 . 81 percent , up by five basis_points . and one year bills were offered at 8 . 80 percent , up by seven basis_points . while the prices of high yield ''junk_bonds'' plummeted , trading conditions in the secondary markets for investment grade corporate and tax exempt municipal_bonds remained sleepy yesterday . corporate_bond traders said that the prices of most long term issues dipped by about three eighths of a point . meanwhile , tax exempt issues , bolstered by good technical conditions , rose by about one eighth of a point . ''supply scheduled to come to market is very light , '' one municipal dealer said . ''barring a really bad inflation number , our market should be pretty firm . '' in other developments , the federal_reserve_board reported yesterday that two of the three measures of the nation 's money_supply posted declines for the week that ended on april 3 . the third measure , m 2 , rose by 5 . 2 billion . the report had little effect on prices in the credit markets . credit markets.

as the conversion of old industrial buildings to residential use continues and new apartment buildings rise in the dumbo area of brooklyn , the number of developers active in the neighborhood has also been increasing . one of the more active in dumbo , or down under the manhattan bridge overpass , is boymelgreen developers of brooklyn . the company , along with partners , has five residential projects in various stages of development that by 2005 will yield 268 apartments , mostly new condominiums but including some conversions of industrial or office buildings into apartments . several other developers plan an additional 500 apartments in that period , said richard mauro , a principal of dexter haven realty in dumbo . among them is two trees management , a pioneer in dumbo 's rejuvenation and its major property owner . mr . mauro said other developers included the kay organization , which plans to develop 50 to 60 condo apartments in a conversion and new construction project involving the old kirkland soap factory and an adjacent industrial building at bridge and plymouth streets . guma construction , he said , has started site work on a_12 story condo building at 133 water street that will also have 50 to 60 apartments , and cara construction has begun work on a 30 story mixed use tower on jay street between york and front streets that is to have 200 condos . dumbo began to take its current residential form in 1997 when two trees started to convert four of its industrial buildings into 131 rentals . a fifth structure , one main_street , was turned into 124 condo apartments that went on sale in 1998 and stamped the area a neighborhood . since then , additional housing has been created , new shops and restaurants have opened and more are anticipated , said jed walentas , a principal of two trees . christopher d . thomas , president of the brooklyn office of the william b . may residential brokerage company , said that because demand had so far remained in balance with supply ''there was no trouble absorbing'' the first wave of residences . and since they were in buildings closest to the east_river with views , sales prices were high but have now leveled off , he said , noting that prices were 500 to 700 a square_foot on average . but he said future prices might be closer to the lower end of that scale because many of the remaining buildings are far away from the water and offer lesser views . mr . walentas said that next year two trees planned to convert to housing 70 washington street , when the artists' studios and light industrial tenants in the 13 story structure move as their leases expire . he said the building , a few blocks from the water , would be converted into more than 200 condo apartments . in the last 18 months , the company has transformed the sweeney building at 30 main_street into 87 condos with 1 , 500 to 1 , 600 square_feet on average . all but two of the apartments have been sold for an average of 650 a square_foot , or 1 . 143 million , according to toby klein , executive sales director of two trees . sara mirski , a developer for boymelgreen , said that her company entered dumbo roughly three years ago and that its current projects represented a total investment of 150 million . the company 's first development , bridgefront , a 21 apartment condo , is nearing_completion at main and front streets . in the three months since sales began , all but one of the 10 story building 's 1 , 010 to 1 , 700 square_foot apartments have been sold for 600 , 000 to 1 . 15 million , ms . mirski said . boymelgreen has also begun work on an 11 story glass and chrome condo building with 44 apartments at 84 front street . the company is also converting two interconnecting , 1920 's commercial buildings at 57 front street to 33 one and two bedroom rental_apartments . residential real_estate.

after four hours of meetings with foreign_minister qian_qichen and other senior officials here , the united_states envoy to the united_nations , bill richardson , sought today to play down china 's refusal to support threats of military force against iraq , describing the difference as simply one of tactics to reach a shared goal . at a news conference this evening , mr . richardson said he had come here to explain american policy regarding iraq 's efforts to limit weapons inspections . he said he had presented evidence of iraq 's ''continued production of weapons_of_mass_destruction , '' such as deadly chemical and biological_agents , and delivered a letter from president_clinton detailing american policy . the chinese were friendly and listened carefully , he said , though they repeated their view that a military response would be wrong . ''the tone was good , '' he said . mr . richardson said the areas of agreement that the situation is grave , that iraq must permit unfettered_access of inspectors to suspicious sites and that a diplomatic solution is preferred outweighed the disagreement over means . the two countries have ' 'some tactical differences on the issue of force , '' he said . ''i did not come to seek china 's agreement to air_strikes , '' he said , but to consult with a fellow permanent member of the united_nations_security_council and a country with which the united_states seeks to build a long term ' 'strategic partnership . '' in the meetings today , as in recent weeks , china argued that military action would only deepen regional tensions . ''if force is used , it will inevitably cause serious consequences and significant casualties of innocent people and will not contribute to a solution of the question over weapons inspection , '' mr . qian told reporters after the meetings , reuters reported . senior american officials in washington say they believe that if it does come to conflict , china is likely to abstain on any relevant united_nations votes rather than oppose the united_states outright . but mr . richardson reiterated the american view that an existing united_nations resolution already grants legal authority for military action if iraq does not cooperate with weapons inspectors . after iraq invaded_kuwait in 1990 , china abstained on the security_council resolution_authorizing the use of force if iraq did not withdraw . at that time , mr . qian warned against ''hasty actions'' that could lead to ' 'serious consequences'' for the entire world . since the 1991 persian_gulf_war , chinese military leaders have pointed to america 's virtuoso display of high technology to build support for modernizing china 's large , relatively backward , army . mr . richardson expressed confidence that even if the united_states did engage in military action against iraq against chinese wishes , friendly ties would continue to build . ''the relationship is a strong one , '' he said , adding that he saw no threat to president_clinton 's plans to visit beijing later this year . american officials said the two sides were discussing opening a ''hot line'' between the white_house and zhongnanhai , the chinese leadership compound in the heart of beijing . but mr . richardson left little doubt the united_states was preparing for an attack . ''the diplomatic solutions are being exhausted , '' he said , ticking off the various missions by the russians , the french , the turks , the arab_league and others that have failed to obtain full iraqi compliance . ''the responsibility for what happens next lies with saddam_hussein , '' he said . standoff with iraq diplomacy.

lead a paris newspaper reported today that a report was sent to president_francois_mitterrand suggesting that one of his closest friends , roger_patrice_pelat , a businessman , bought 50 , 000 shares of triangle industries' stock just before pechiney s.a . of france announced plans to acquire triangle . a paris newspaper reported today that a report was sent to president_francois_mitterrand suggesting that one of his closest friends , roger_patrice_pelat , a businessman , bought 50 , 000 shares of triangle industries' stock just before pechiney s.a . of france announced plans to acquire triangle . le_monde said the confidential report sent to mr . mitterrand accused mr . pelat of engaging in insider_trading by buying not only 10 , 000 shares in his own name , as has been known for weeks , but also an additional 40 , 000 shares bought secretly through a swiss bank . investigators say that purchases by various parties , totaling more than 200 , 000 triangle shares , were under suspicion of insider_trading . the profits from trading those shares , the investigators say , were about 10 million . heightens embarrassment the newspaper report about mr . pelat heightens the embarrassment for the socialist government , which has been accused of being loose lipped regarding the plans of pechiney , the state owned aluminum company , to acquire triangle , the parent of american national can . telephone calls to mr . pelat 's paris apartment were unanswered today . max theret , a socialist businessman who investigators said bought 32 , 300 triangle shares just before pechiney announced its 1 . 26 billion acquisition last nov . 21 , has said that he had recommended triangle stock to mr . pelat . mr . theret said he had concluded , based on public information , that triangle 's stock was a good investment because of the potential of the packaging industry . mr . pelat who used to run a company that made parts for military vehicles has known mr . mitterrand since world_war_ii , when they were in a german prison camp . later they fought together in the resistance . son could be involved some investigators raised the possibility that some of the pelat purchases may have been by his son , also named roger_patrice_pelat . on friday , alain boublil , the chief of staff for the finance minister , pierre_beregovoy , resigned , saying he wanted to defend himself against the implications of reports linking him to a group of financiers who are suspected of insider_trading in triangle stock . mr . boublil , who had been privy to the pechiney triangle talks , said he was the victim of rumors . this weekend mr . boublil said he refused to be made a scapegoat in the affair , adding that he was privy to the triangle negotiations because his finance ministry post required him to help develop strategies for france 's state owned companies . michel noir , the minister of foreign trade under former prime_minister jacques_chirac , called today for a formal inquiry of the pechiney triangle affair , which he said was hurting paris 's efforts to become an international financial center . pierre mauroy , secretary general of the socialist_party , said , ''if there are failures by some individuals , they must be punished . ''

wading into one of the nation 's most contentious environmental debates , vice_president al_gore pledged today to prohibit logging and road building on 43 million acres of undeveloped national forests . mr . gore 's promise goes beyond a proposal the clinton_administration made just three weeks ago that would bar road building across that same broad swath of roadless land in 155 national forests and grasslands . that land accounts for about a quarter of the entire forest system and includes many of its most pristine areas . but even as they praised president_clinton 's proposal , many environmental groups said it did not go far enough because it would not prevent logging in those undeveloped forest lands . environmentalists also criticized the plan , which is under review , for explicitly exempting the tongass national forest in alaska , the nation 's largest . today , mr . gore addressed both complaints , saying he would bar logging as well as road building in the roadless_areas . and he strongly suggested that he would extend the same protections to the tongass , where conservation efforts have been opposed by alaska 's influential congressional delegation . ''if i am entrusted with the presidency , it will be a national priority to preserve these roadless_areas as they are , no ifs , ands or buts about it , '' mr . gore said . ''no more destructive development and exploitation . and just so i 'm crystal clear about it , no new road building and no timber sales in the roadless_areas of our national forests . period . '' on the tongass , mr . gore added , ''i will ensure total and permanent protection for the roadless_areas in the tongass , america 's great temperate rain_forest . '' the vice_president made his announcement after picking up the endorsement of the league of conservation voters , which represents the leadership of more than 40 environmental groups . ''his environmental achievements are the most extensive of any public official in high office , '' said deb callahan , president of the league . ''without al_gore and this administration , we would already be experiencing a dramatic backward slide on the environment . '' beyond its new environmental promises , mr . gore 's speech was notable for not mentioning gov . george w . bush of texas , his republican rival . the vice_president has been criticized by some fellow democrats for spending too much time in recent weeks attacking mr . bush rather than explaining where he would lead the country . today 's speech , mr . gore 's aides said , was just the first of several in which he plans to focus on his own proposals and vision , rather than reacting to news that his opponent creates . the vice_president has also begun devoting more of his speeches to spotlighting parts of his background , a strategy the democratic national committee plans to incorporate into a series of biographical television commercials in the coming weeks . but if mr . gore gave his republican opponent a pass today , ms . callahan , who worked on mr . gore 's 1988 presidential campaign , did not . she asserted that mr . bush had done little to reduce air_pollution or improve state_parks in texas . and she accused mr . bush of pandering to big corporate polluters that have contributed generously to his campaigns . ''george w . bush 's appointees to key cabinet and administrative positions predict an administration of , by and for the special interests , '' she said . dan_bartlett , a spokesman for mr . bush , said mr . bush 's administration had actually added nearly 91 , 000 acres to the state_park system and had significantly reduced the release of toxic pollutants into the air , water and soil . ''when al_gore chooses surrogates to pollute governor bush 's record , he should choose ones that have their facts straight , '' mr . bartlett said . ''the new al_gore is the same old al_gore . the negative_campaigning will continue . '' to counter the league 's endorsement , the republican national committee circulated today copies of a memorandum written at least six months ago by a board member of the sierra_club , one of the nation 's largest and most influential environmental groups , that sharply criticized mr . gore 's environmental record . ''with this legacy , no real environmentalist could ever endorse al_gore , '' wrote michael dorsey , a doctoral_candidate at the university of michigan school of natural_resources and environment . but daniel j . weiss , the sierra_club 's political director , described the memorandum as ''one person 's opinion , '' adding that it would have ''no impact'' on whether the group endorsed mr . gore . many environmentalists expect the sierra_club to back mr . gore by the fall . indeed , the group has already spent 250 , 000 on television commercials attacking mr . bush 's environmental record . the spots are being broadcast in michigan , missouri and wisconsin and will begin running in ohio this week . a third , smaller environmental group , friends of the earth , which endorsed bill bradley in the democratic primaries and has been sharply critical of mr . gore 's record on global_warming and trade issues , remains undecided in the race . a spokesman , mark whiteis helm , said the group is considering endorsing ralph_nader , the green_party candidate , but has not ruled out backing mr . gore . in proposing new protections for the national forests , mr . gore stepped into an emerging national debate over development in some of the nation 's wildest lands . advocates of the expanded protections contend that roadless_areas encompass some of the cleanest , safest wildlife habitats in the nation . but off road vehicle enthusiasts and timber industry officials argue that too much public land has already been placed off limits to development . the ban has also been strongly opposed by some powerful western lawmakers who say it would reduce logging jobs . forest_service officials have said that simply banning road building would significantly reduce future logging in the roadless_areas . but mr . gore sided today with environmentalists , who contend that unless logging is specifically prohibited , helicopter logging and other activities could damage the land . mr . gore did not consult with mr . clinton about today 's speech , advisers to the vice_president said . but aides to the two men did confer beforehand . in his speech today , mr . gore also pledged to prevent oil drilling in the arctic_national_wildlife_refuge in alaska . and he asserted that passing campaign_finance_reform legislation would be a form of environmental_protection , because it would reduce the influence of big corporate polluters . mr . gore also defended his 1992 book on the environment , ''earth in the balance , '' which was recently reissued , much to the glee of some republicans who say it exposed mr . gore as an extremist on the issue . but today , mr . gore said ''i am proud i wrote that book . i stand by every word in that book . '' he concluded ''i believe that god created only this one earth and the earth is in the balance . save it we can , and save it we must . ''

lead the state_senate narrowly approved a measure yesterday that would allow residents to say in advance whether they want life sustaining medical treatment withheld if they become seriously ill and incapacitated . the state_senate narrowly approved a measure yesterday that would allow residents to say in advance whether they want life sustaining medical treatment withheld if they become seriously ill and incapacitated . the living will bill received one vote more than the 20 needed for approval . a second bill , which would establish guidelines for doctors who must determine whether a patient is brain dead , was approved by the same margin . together , the two bills would ''help prevent patients' decisions from being misunderstood or ignored once they become unable to express their wishes , '' said senator gabriel ambrosio , a democrat of bergen_county , the sponsor of both bills . the measures approved yesterday would give the state one of the furthest reaching living will laws in the country . ( ap )

in the final dual meet of goodwill_games swimming , the contest that everyone looked forward to tonight the 50 meter_freestyle sending aleksandr_popov of russia against bill pilczuk of the united_states turned out to be a rout . the near capacity crowd of 1 , 229 at the nassau_county goodwill_games swimming and diving center watched popov draw away in the last 20 meters to a five foot victory over his teammate roman yegorov in 22 . 27 seconds . pilczuk , from cape may , n.j. , was six inches behind yegorov , a disappointment for someone who upset popov at this distance in last january 's world_championships . that was popov 's only loss in seven years , a slight blemish for one who had swept the olympic sprints in 1992 and 1996 . popov said he lost because he made mistakes . here , he made no mistakes against pilczuk . popov made light of the rivalry . ''i always swim fast for myself , '' he said . ''it does n't matter who the competition is . '' pilczuk agreed ''there 's really no rivalry . we 're good friends . '' the united_states led russia , 59 56 , going into the final race , the 4x100_meter freestyle_relay . but russia , helped by popov 's second leg in 48 . 50 seconds , won the relay by seven meters in 3 minutes 18 . 18 seconds and won the meet , 63 59 . the united_states , whose women were undefeated , lost all three men 's meets . the men 's champions were the unbeaten world all stars , who defeated germany , 85 37 . earlier in the day , goodwill officials addressed a sticky situation by awarding 10 , 000 to penny heyns , a 23 year old olympic champion from south_africa . on saturday night , on the first lap of the women 's 100 meter_breast_stroke , heyns set the first world record for the 50 meter_breast_stroke . the international swimming federation , known by its french acronym of fina , said in january that it would recognize such 50 meter records if they bettered existing world bests . heyns swam 50 meters from a buzzer start to electronic touch pad finish in 30 . 95 seconds . the best previous time was 31 . 58 seconds in 1988 by silke horner of east_germany . goodwill literature distributed to officials and competitors listed a 50 , 000 bonus for a world record here . heyns expected that bonus , but when meet officials said after her race that she was ineligible for a bonus because the 50 meter_breast_stroke was not on the program , she was more puzzled than angry . ''all i know , '' she said then , ''is that there was no fine_print . it said , 'world record 50 , 000 . ' and the name of the meet is goodwill . '' today , mike plant , the goodwill_games president , met with his officials . they decided to give heyns 10 , 000 . ''it was a superlative performance by an outstanding athlete that could n't be ignored by being outside the list of events , '' said michael lewellen , a games spokesman . goodwill_games.

reeling from an ill starred push into corporate lending that left it saddled with a big portfolio of bad_loans , abbey national , britain 's second largest mortgage bank , said today that it now expected to lose money for the full fiscal year . under its former chief executive , ian harley , abbey national expanded away from its roots as a retail bank that provided financial_services to consumers . searching for faster growth and profits , the bank began to make more and more risky loans to large corporations like enron and worldcom , in competition with giant banks like barclays and hsbc . mr . harley resigned in july . last month , abbey national named luqman arnold , a former president of ubs , the major swiss bank , to replace him . mr . luqman is currently conducting a wide_ranging review of abbey national 's businesses , and has said he plans to sell the ones that are not essential to its strategy , to eliminate jobs and to refocus abbey national 's resources and attention on consumer banking . abbey national said today that new provisions for bad_loans this year would be ' 'materially above the previous guidance . '' it also said that it expected to take a charge of 500 million ( 776 million ) related to its insurance unit , scottish mutual , which like many competitors has suffered from the weak performance of its investment portfolio this year , especially in the stock_market . the bank 's share of new mortgage lending slipped to 7 percent in the first half from 9.6 percent in 2001 , according to bloomberg_news . though abbey national 's credit_rating remains strong , it is starting to erode standard_poor 's lowered it one notch in june and said on monday that it had reduced its outlook on abbey national to negative from stable , while fitch_ratings lowered it by one notch today . british bank stocks generally have fallen in price this year , but abbey national 's shares have been among the worst , losing more than one third of their value since peaking at 11 . 32 ( 17 . 57 ) in early may . the stock closed at 6 . 675 today , a gain of 4.5 percent . the bank 's weakened position has made it an attractive takeover_target , analysts say . in october , abbey national rejected an approach from the bank of ireland . it has also spurned overtures from the national australia bank and the lloyds tsb group .

the department of defense has identified 1 , 071 american service members who have died since the start of the iraq_war . it confirmed the death of the following americans yesterday jacobs , morgen n. , 20 , specialist , army santa_cruz , calif . first infantry division . rusin , aaron j. , 19 , pfc . , army johnstown , pa . second infantry division . the conflict in iraq.

the department of education has begun a citywide survey of more than 1.8 million parents , students and teachers concerning their attitudes about the public schools , mayor michael r . bloomberg and chancellor joel i . klein announced yesterday . the 2 million effort is part of the children first initiative , in which each school will receive a report card with a standard school grade , a through f . data from the surveys will account for 10 percent of each school 's grade . the learning environment surveys are being mailed with postage paid return envelopes to parents of middle_school and high_school students and are being sent home with elementary_school children for their parents to fill out . students in the 6th through 12th grades and teachers at all grade levels will get their surveys at school . the parents , teachers and students invited to participate may also fill out the forms online at schools . nyc . gov surveys . the deadline is may 18 . the survey is intended to produce ''hard facts about which schools are succeeding and which schools are falling behind , '' mr . bloomberg said at a news conference at public_school 76 in the bronx .. for assessments of the results , the tentative plan is to give slightly more weight to the parents' responses , officials said . the parents' survey consists of 14 multiple_choice questions , most of them about how much the respondents agree or disagree with statements about school quality , activities , course work and teacher support . examples vary from ''i feel welcome in my child 's school'' to ''students use alcohol or illegal drugs during school . '' the survey also presents parents with a list of 10 potential improvements , including more teacher training and smaller classes , and asks them to choose the ones they consider most important . students are quizzed on similar topics , with agree or disagree statements like ''my teachers inspire me to learn'' and ''most students in my school like to put others down . '' even before mr . bloomberg and mr . klein 's announcement , a group of eight parents was urging the public to snub the survey . the parents , who were members of the focus_groups that the department of education assembled to help them fine tune the survey , said the questions ignore their concerns about class size , standardized_testing and school leadership teams . the group urged parents to cross out the questions and send back the form with a handwritten message demanding ' 'real parent input . '' mr . bloomberg said the group had found a way to ' 'subvert the system and sit around and complain and not make it any better . '' randi_weingarten , the president of the united_federation_of_teachers , said she welcomed the survey . ''we want to make sure that we know on the ground what people really think about the schools , '' she said .. the department has had trouble getting parents to return similar questionnaires , including recent requests for information about discounted lunches and school_bus service . ''the survey will only be as good as the people who participate in it , '' mr . klein said .

stocks traded higher here today . at the close , the nikkei index of 225 issues was up 111 . 03 points , or half of 1 percent , to 21 , 406 . 85 . on thursday , the nikkei lost 34 . 16 points .

stocks were trading slightly higher here today . at midday , the nikkei index of 225 issues was up 34 . 47 points , or two tenths of 1 percent , at 17 , 774 . 31 . on monday , the nikkei fell 173 . 22 points , or nearly 1 percent .

the justice_department urged transportation officials today to reject a proposed alliance between american_airlines and british_airways unless the two carriers sell some landing and takeoff rights to increase competition on routes between the united_states and london . the proposed alliance has put the bush_administration in a difficult position as it tries to sort out a fight over routes that are among the most profitable in the industry . on one side are two of the world 's largest airlines , one of which has close connections to president_bush , and the british_government . prime_minister tony_blair has lobbied the white_house on behalf of the alliance . on the other side is most of the rest of the industry , which has been largely shut out of the market . antitrust prosecutors at the justice_department strongly recommended the rejection of the deal unless there were divestitures of the rights to at least 126 trans_atlantic flights each week . they concluded that the proposed combination would give the two airlines well over 50 percent of the flights between many american cities and heathrow_airport in london , and significantly more than that for the even more lucrative market for business travelers . ''the alliance threatens a substantial loss of competition which would likely result in higher air fares and reduced service , '' the justice_department said in comments filed with the transportation department , which makes the ultimate decision about whether to approve , reject or modify the deal . ''unless d.o.t . requires divestiture of enough slots for new entrants to offer nine daily round trips to london from new york and boston , as well as substantial new air service from other u.s . cities , the department would oppose the transaction . '' it is unknown how today 's analysis will affect the outcome of a ferocious lobbying and regulatory battle between the two carriers and their rivals . in a joint statement tonight , british_airways and american_airlines , a unit of the amr_corporation , suggested that they would be unwilling to give up the slots that the justice_department said would , at a minimum , be necessary to avoid antitrust problems . still , some analysts and rivals suggested that the justice_department 's analysis could nonetheless clear the way for a deal that would gain the approval of transportation officials . other rivals said that the report 's analysis and its skepticism on the competitive landscape of the industry was an unexpected blow to the two carriers . trans_atlantic flights to heathrow_airport are the most profitable in the industry , in large part because only four airlines provide such service , with the majority of flights from american and british_airways . the other two to provide trans_atlantic service to heathrow are virgin_atlantic_airways and united_airlines , a subsidiary of the ual corporation . delta_air_lines , continental_airlines , northwest_airlines and virgin have led the opposition to the proposed alliance . in a joint statement issued after the report was filed , british_airways and american commended the justice_department for supporting a new so called open_skies agreement between the united_states and britain to liberalize restrictions on routes and increase competition . but they criticized the recommendation that they be forced to sell slots to win antitrust immunity . ''we believe the d.o.j . proposed divestiture of 126 weekly slots is inappropriate , '' the carriers said . ''d . o.j . underestimated the commercial availability of slots at heathrow and the competitive advantages already being enjoyed by other global alliance networks . most significantly , d.o.j . did not consider the potential benefits of a new u.s . u . k . open_skies agreement . '' critics of the alliance applauded the report and recommendations today . ''the department of justice really in our judgment has corroborated the assertions'' made by the primary opponents of the antitrust immunity application , said douglas m . steenland , president of northwest_airlines . ''they find that heathrow is slot constrained and absent divestiture of significant new slots there is no way new entrants can fly to heathrow . they come up with a proposed remedy with specific number of slots for new york and boston . then they say the department of transportation has to come up with an additional number of slots and needs to provide additional remedies . '' the justice_department report surprised some rivals of the two airlines , who for weeks have raised concerns that the bush_administration , and in particular , the justice_department , would buckle under intense pressure from the british_government to grant antitrust immunity to american and british_airways , the largest carrier in the world and in europe , respectively . while the justice_department report is not the final word , it puts significant pressure on the transportation department , which has the final say over the alliance . in a visit to the united_states earlier this fall , mr . blair pressed president_bush and his senior advisers to approve the request by british_airways and american . at the time , the white_house was presenting its own wish list to the british_government for assistance in the war in afghanistan . mr . blair 's request prompted concerns that the justice_department , which traditionally provides antitrust analysis for such alliances to the transportation department , would bow out of the process , or water down its recommendations . a senior antitrust official said today that the division had received no guidance from other quarters of the administration or the white_house about the report . the two airlines have tried for years to consummate an alliance to share revenue and coordinate schedules and fares . three years ago , the justice_department urged that the deal be rejected after it came under heavy criticism from rivals . some critics of the alliance today noted that the clinton_administration had recommended the divestiture of at least 336 weekly flights , which killed an earlier joint_venture proposal , and that the antitrust_division at the justice_department should have made a similar proposal today . ''the justice_department 's analysis is terrific , but the solution is not , '' said kenneth s . levine , a lawyer representing virgin_atlantic . ''the solution should be substantially more slots divested from american and british_airways . '' but mr . steenland , president of northwest , said that a close reading of the report strongly suggested that a similar divestiture would be needed to satisfy the anticompetitive concerns expressed today .

lead prime_minister noboru_takeshita of japan today urged an expansion of trade between the european_community and japan . ''the importance of increased economic cooperation between japan and europe cannot be underestimated , '' the prime_minister told reporters after meeting with west_german officials as part of an 11 day european_tour . prime_minister noboru_takeshita of japan today urged an expansion of trade between the european_community and japan . ''the importance of increased economic cooperation between japan and europe cannot be underestimated , '' the prime_minister told reporters after meeting with west_german officials as part of an 11 day european_tour .

japanese bankers are digging in to oppose vociferously efforts by japan 's new chief financial regulator , heizo_takenaka , to force a faster resolution of the country 's bad loan crisis . mr . takenaka , already the economy minister , was appointed by prime_minister_junichiro_koizumi to run both that ministry and the main financial regulatory_agency in a cabinet reshuffling two weeks ago . since then he has frightened the banks with hard boiled talk of forcing them to move rapidly in writing off more than 400 billion in nonperforming_loans on their books . write_offs on that scale would wipe out so much of the banks' capital that analysts say many of them would need infusions of tax money to remain solvent . such infusions would probably give the government power to force out the banks' management , a situation the bank executives want badly to avoid . the bankers' allies in the ruling liberal democratic_party also oppose mr . takenaka 's calls for stricter assessment of the banks' loan portfolios . the banks have been extremely slow to acknowledge that their loans are in trouble . applying stricter standards would add many more loans to the problem list and would kill off many companies now on financial life_support , throwing their workers onto the unemployment line . mr . takenaka has been building a coalition that supports forcing the most indebted lenders to accept public money . the bank of japan , the organization for economic cooperation and development and japan 's largest business lobby have all backed his efforts . but the bankers' stiffening opposition makes it likely that mr . takenaka 's advisory task_force on the bad loan problem will delay releasing its report , due this week , until next week to allow for more consultations . in the meantime , the koizumi government is expected to announce ''anti deflationary'' measures on friday intended to reassure the public that it is acting to offset the economic pain that would come with faster bad debt write_offs . some tax breaks , loan_guarantees and increases in unemployment_benefits are possibilities , but their scope will be limited by prime_minister koizumi 's promise to keep a lid on japan 's chronic budget_deficit . for their part , the leaders of japan 's three largest banking federations told mr . takenaka 's task_force on tuesday that they had enough money to write off their nonperforming_loans and protect against future losses without an infusion of tax money , the leading business newspaper , the nihon_keizai_shimbun , reported . but their calculations are based on the current definitions of nonperformance and bank capital adequacy , and they oppose plans to tighten the definitions . the bankers and their political backers are also pushing to expand the role of the resolution and collection corporation , a government sponsored agency that uses public money to buy some bad_loans from the banks . but the law that created the agency forbids it from taking losses on its operations , so it offers the banks very low prices for the loans and has not been able to dispose of many . bankers and many top lawmakers want the law changed to allow the agency to pay the banks more and then absorb the losses . experts say the bank of japan would be asked to finance the operations . that approach would shift the cost of cleaning up the mess to taxpayers without reducing the banks' independence . but it would also perpetuate the ' 'moral_hazard'' that critics say kept earlier bank bailouts , in 1998 and 1999 , from making any lasting dent in the bad loan problem the belief that the government will always help the banks in a crisis deters bankers from taking painful steps to head off or solve crises on their own . ''we 're probably in the same scenario as in 1998 , where the goal is financial sector stability , no matter how you get there , '' said kathy matsui , an equity strategist at goldman , sachs in tokyo . ''the government will do just enough to get through this , and takenaka 's team will have to pray that it 's enough . '' a compromise with the banks , ms . matsui said , might prop up stocks in the short term but would antagonize investors who had taken the government at its word and sold japanese assets in anticipation of tough action . ms . matsui and other analysts say the government must instead come up with a comprehensive solution that includes not only dealing with the bad_loans but also steps to strengthen the social_safety_net , stop deflation and improve corporate profitability . ms . matsui said japanese corporations , in particular , must be pushed to reduce their debts and shed idle factories and workers . in the past , japanese executives have been deeply reluctant to take such steps , but that stance is changing . this year , the largest manufacturers have announced plans to close dozens of factories and lay off tens of thousands of workers . many construction , retail and real_estate companies have also reached agreements with their bank lenders to exchange equity for their debts . for all the progress , though , japanese companies listed on the tokyo_stock_exchange owed 216 trillion_yen ( 1 . 7 trillion ) in interest bearing debts at the end of the fiscal year on march 31 , equal to about 85 percent of the exchange 's total market_capitalization . though short term interest rates have fallen close to zero , companies have managed to reduce their indebtedness over the last five years by just 8 percent .

president_bush and president boris n . yeltsin made new arms control proposals this week that envision slashing american and russian long range nuclear_arms by well over half and could eliminate the class of missiles considered the biggest threat to peace . but mr . bush 's proposal , outlined in the state of the union address on tuesday , asks mr . yeltsin to take a step that no soviet leader ever entertained give up his advantage in one area of nuclear_arms competition , land based missiles , in return for an important concession but not parallel cuts in the area of american advantage , submarine based missiles . mr . bush 's plan would reduce the american strategic nuclear_arsenal to between 4 , 500 and 5 , 000 warheads , about 60 percent of the current level and far less than envisioned in last year 's strategic_arms_reduction_treaty . multiple_warhead_missiles it would eliminate missiles with more than one warhead that are fired from land , the most dangerous kind of nuclear_weapon and the mainstay of the soviet nuclear_force . in exchange , the united_states would sharply reduce its stock of weapons launched from submarines , which are the ones the russians worry about the most , but washington would retain an edge . in response , mr . yeltsin said today that he would propose cutting long range nuclear_warheads to between 2 , 000 and 2 , 500 . that did not appear to include cruise_missiles and bombs dropped from airplanes , but would still mean a total significantly lower than what mr . bush suggested . page_a8 . administration officials said prospects were good for some sort of an agreement , which mr . bush and mr . yeltsin will begin discussing at camp_david on saturday . mr . bush on tuesday described mr . yeltsin 's early response as " very positive . " offer called 'lopsided' but soviet officials visiting the united_states in advance of mr . yeltsin 's arrival for a united_nations_security_council meeting on friday are reported to have said in conversations here that mr . yeltsin found the offer " lopsided " and told mr . bush so in a letter received by the white_house on monday . mr . yeltsin had been advised in advance of mr . bush 's proposal . mr . yeltsin also made clear in a speech today that his government will continue to oppose washington 's " star_wars " anti missile program unless the united_states agrees to share the technology , something the bush_administration has refused to consider . both sides have indicated in recent days that they recognize that the dynamics of arms control have been transformed . just last week , mr . yeltsin announced that russian nuclear_missiles would no longer be aimed at american targets , and the pentagon has long conceded there is no apparent military threat from what used to be the soviet_union . indeed , administration officials said these sorts of developments led mr . bush to propose the concessions that soviet leaders always refused , with some confidence that his ideas would be at least considered . 'out to sea' " this is what we 've been trying to do since the beginning of strategic arms negotiations in 1969 'push the soviets out to sea , ' where we have our missiles , " said dunbar lockwood , a senior analyst with the arms_control_association , a private research group . he added , " it has always been our premise that it 's more stabilizing to have the bulk of missiles in subs , because they are invisible under the sea and therefore more useful for retaliation and not an attractive target for someone considering a first strike . " as dramatic as the newly proposed cuts may seem , arms control is not the only item on the agenda for saturday 's meeting , nor perhaps even the most pressing . the white_house views the meeting as a chance for mr . bush to impress on mr . yeltsin the need to continue political and economic_liberalization without russia imposing its will on other former republics . 'big brother fashion' " we believe there is a need for all the former soviet republics to move forward along these lines , mutually and not in big brother fashion , " an administration official said . " the russians have shown a tendency to confuse their national interests with those of the peoples surrounding them . " mr . bush also planned to give what one official called his " imprimatur " to mr . yeltsin 's economic policies , which washington hopes will give the russian leader a political boost at home , in much the same way that mr . bush once sought to shore up president mikhail s . gorbachev . equally important , officials said , mr . bush hopes to establish with mr . yeltsin the kind of personal rapport and working relationship that he had with mr . gorbachev . " it 's the first time he 's met with yeltsin that bush has n't had to worry about the problem of dual power and conflicting loyalties , " a senior official said . another official said , " the only alternative to yeltsin that we can see is dictatorship and so we want to , a , make sure that he 's politically entrenched and , b , make sure as we did with gorbachev that he follows the path of democracy and reform . " 1991 arms treaty last july , the united_states and the soviet_union signed the strategic_arms_reduction_treaty , which calls for reducing the american arsenal of about 11 , 600 nuclear_warheads aboard ballistic_missiles , jet like cruise_missiles and bombs dropped by airplanes to about 8 , 600 before the end of the century . the soviet arsenal would be cut from about 10 , 900 warheads to about 6 , 900 . nuclear_arms treaties deal with warheads , which are the actual nuclear bombs , rather than the missiles that carry them , because modern missiles can carry more than 10 warheads apiece . these missiles are considered dangerous or " destabilizing " because they are tempting targets for the other country 's military planners . on sept . 27 , in announcing unilateral cuts in short range nuclear_weapons that are used on the battlefield , mr . bush offered to negotiate an elimination of multiple_warhead_missiles with the soviet_union . cutting soviet arsenal on tuesday , mr . bush proposed that russia , ukraine and kazakhstan eradicate all of their huge , multiple_warhead_missiles based on land . this would have the additional benefit to the united_states of removing all intercontinental missiles from ukrainian and kazakh soil . the united_states has in the past proposed eliminating multiple_warhead_missiles fired from land and the kremlin has always refused , because the united_states was not willing to consider cuts in its submarine launched missiles . this time , mr . bush offered to do just that if the other three countries accepted his proposal . he said he would eliminate about one third of the warheads aboard american trident submarines , reducing the force from 3 , 456 warheads to about 2 , 300 . he went a step further by saying he would also destroy america 's newest and most powerful land based weapon , the 10 warhead mx missile , and lower the number of warheads aboard the minuteman 3 missile to one from three . if these ideas are adopted , the united_states would be left with about 2 , 800 warheads on its long range missiles . the rest of the arsenal is composed of bombs dropped by aircraft and cruise_missiles , similar to conventionally armed versions used against iraq last year . it is not clear how many of each kind of missile mr . bush intends to keep .

the bomber seemed prepared to die in any of several ways here this morning . in the trunk of his car , was one bomb . around his waist , in the form of an explosive belt , was another . in all , one iraqi investigator said , the man was wired to 50 or more pounds of explosives that he detonated at 8 a.m . in the parking_lot of the united_nations compound , a month after another suicide_bomber killed 22 people there . the powerful blast killed the bomber and an unarmed iraqi police_officer getting ready to search his car , while wounding 19 others , many of them iraqi_police officers , the united_nations said . while there is no evidence that today 's bomber had actually tried , officials here say it seems likely that he had planned to slip into the heavily_fortified compound to deliver the message again that the united_nations remains a target in the guerrilla_war here . ''that makes sense , given the circumstances , '' said lt . col . george_krivo , an american military spokesman , who called the attack today ''heinous . '' in the last week , there has been no break from attacks on american_forces as well as the iraqi politicians and policemen who have taken the place of saddam_hussein 's government . in the northern city of mosul today , attackers reportedly fired rocket propelled grenades into a police station , wounding several people . on sunday_night in the southern city of basra , six policemen were reported injured when their station was attacked by men shooting ak_47 rifles . in the bombing today , as in other attacks , colonel krivo said , there was no firm evidence of who was behind it hussein loyalists , operatives from al_qaeda or someone else . but he suggested that as american_forces cracked down on militants around the country , the military might be beginning to encounter ''the worst of the worst . '' ''maybe that 's where were headed here , '' he said . ''we 're getting down to the most hardened , most difficult , former regime loyalists and others who will stop at nothing to try to prevent the progress that is being made in the vast majority of the country . '' as a result of the bombing today , antonia paradela , a united_nations spokeswoman , said the united_nations would again review its operations in iraq for the safety of its workers . it did that after the last bombing , and decided to withdraw most of its foreign staff from iraq . while there are still about 5 , 000 united_nations employees here most with the world_food_program only several hundred are from outside iraq . ms . paradela said it was ''too early'' to tell whether the explosion would delay their return , or put off a larger buildup of people to help reconstruct the nation . but she said the improved security since the first bombing rows of barbed_wire and big barriers of dirt and concrete that had gone up at the compound and others like it around the capital appeared to be working . in fact , military officials said , it did not appear that the bomber got within 200 to 300 yards of the compound , a former hotel . the events this morning involved about 10 iraqi policemen in a lightly trained and unarmed unit that protects public buildings . the men were searching cars entering a parking_lot used mostly by iraqis who work at the compound or visit it for business . one of the officers said there was a line of three cars waiting , including an old white mercedes . another officer , mahmoud mousa , 30 , said that a co worker , whom he knew only as ahmed , asked ''should i check this one ? '' ahmed asked the mercedes driver to open the hood and trunk and step out of the car . as the driver reached down , the first guard said , there was an enormous explosion and ahmed was torn to pieces . ''this is my friend 's flesh and his blood , '' mr . mousa said , holding up his red spattered and shredded uniform shirt , as he lay wounded at al_kindi hospital in baghdad . izmat hamza , 43 , a driver who was waiting in the parking_lot , said that he saw several officers milling around the lot , then a huge blast blew out all the windows on one side of his minivan . a severed hand lay in the dirt , perhaps 40 feet away . pieces of the car , a crust of a tire and a rim , sat 100 or so yards farther . the bomber 's body from the waist down , the police said later , lay in flames next to the car , reduced to a blackened heap . ''it was very powerful , '' mr . hamza said . the guards said they believed that it was the mercedes that exploded , but a white mercedes sat intact at the site of the blast . an investigator with the iraqi_police , who spoke on the condition of anonymity , said the car that exploded was actually a toyota corolla that belonged to the iraqi_army . he said that fact suggested that it might have been carried out by former soldiers still loyal to mr . hussein but , he added , ''not 100 percent , '' given how many government cars had been stolen . while some officials said they believed that the bomber had hoped to get into the compound , the wounded officers said they thought that they themselves , as iraqi_police officers , were the target , as has been the case in several past attacks . ''he just wanted to kill the iraqi guards , '' said haider mansour , 22 , another wounded guard who was lying next to mr . mousa in the hospital . he spoke with some anger that he and his fellow guards , for the salary of 120 a month , have become what he said was a vulnerable , and unarmed , first line of defense . ''the americans have something like four layers of walls they hide behind , and we are just out on the street , '' he said . asked about whether the police who guard public facilities will be armed soon , colonel krivo said ''we 're doing the best we can . of course we can do better . we 'd like to do it faster , and we will endeavor to do it faster . that 's all we can say . '' the struggle for iraq baghdad.

a mayoral democratic primary between two black candidates has ended in defeat for the incumbent and provoked some racial soul searching here . the primary became a bitter fight in which blacks supporting the mayor , freeman bosley jr . , accused the challenger , clarence harmon jr . , of selling himself to the white establishment . mr . harmon , the city 's first black police chief , won on tuesday with 56 percent of the vote , to mr . bosley 's 43 percent . mr . harmon drew 94 percent of the white vote . mr . bosley , who was elected the city 's first black mayor four years ago , won 83 percent of the black vote this time , to 17 percent for mr . harmon . st . louis is roughly 50 percent white and 50 percent black , but the white voting_age population is larger . the defeat left some bosley supporters thinking that the city 's blacks had lost an opportunity . ''for the first time , we had a mayor sensitive to north st . louis and its problems schools , crime , the infrastructure of the inner city , '' said james h . buford , the president of the urban league of metropolitan st . louis and a supporter of mr . bosley . mr . harmon , 57 , who worked his way through the ranks of the police department during a 22 year career , was a popular chief who was considered to be effective fighting crime and challenging a department promotion system that depended on political connections . he resigned in 1995 after four years in the job , following a battle with mayor bosley over control of the department . mr . harmon , who has never held elective_office and says he has no taste for politics , will face republican and independent candidates in the election on april 1 . the city is heavily democratic , and the winner of the democratic primary historically wins the election . but this year an independent who is aveteran alderwoman , marit clark , is said to have a chance of drawing votes from some people who had voted for mr . harmon in the primary . during the primary , support for mayor bosley was fervent among blacks . the st . louis american , which calls itself ''the black weekly , '' said mr . harmon was ''a more subdued , palatable candidate propped up by business and white voters . '' the article carried the headline , ''south rises again for harmon , '' a reference to a largely white area of the city . judi roman , mr . harmon 's campaign manager , responded ''south st . louis did turn out for clarence , but it was not a racial issue for them . the issue was that they felt they had been disenfranchised by the bosley administration . '' mr . bosley 's spokesman , ken ilg , said white residents had never warmed to the mayor . ''he does n't talk like a white guy , '' mr . ilg said . ''and he had so much baggage , the white community was looking for any alternative . harmon was wildly popular with the white community . '' supporters of mr . harmon painted the bosley administration as incompetent and plagued by scandals . analysts also said mr . bosley had lost support when he said he planned to replace a departing city official with a black without indicating he would search for the best person regardless of race . but mr . bosley is also credited with several successes a badly needed new city jail , a program to encourage home building and passage of a half cent sales_tax that put revenue into city wards . chester hines , a democratic committeeman , said the primary 's real issue was the city 's direction . ''the city of st . louis made a very clear statement that we are a middle_class city with middle_class standards and middle_class values , '' said mr . hines , who is black . ''we want a person representative of that . ''

soon thousands of american_soldiers , sailors , airmen and marines will rotate back home to their families from the surreal experience of war . many will barely be out of their teens , most in their early 20 's but they will all be changed forever . this recent war in iraq has changed america , too . we have been reminded again that there are enemies who hate us for our values and for our way of life . but in addition to that , we now have another generation who has been forced into the ambiguities , the moral questions and the suffering that combat entails . and we think of them today . i cannot pinpoint the apprehension , confusion , joy or even fear each service member may feel , or have felt , upon arrival back in the united_states . their memories are different depending on where they were and what happened to them while they were ''over there . '' some will be emotional , some will project bravado , some will be silent . it is the quiet ones i worry about . they are often the ones most overcome , damaged by the sights , smells and textures of war . they are the ones who may need the most counseling before they are rehabilitated back into the civilian world . in the 1991 persian_gulf_war , i was a senior chaplain assigned to the headquarters of army central_command in riyadh , saudi_arabia . my mission was to help place 568 army chaplains of all denominations throughout the combat zone so that our troops would always have one nearby . my ministry involved visiting hospitals , counseling the lonely and the fatigued , dodging scud missiles , conducting worship services under the sky , and later , holding memorial services for the dead . it was not my first trip to the middle_east , but it was my first experience in a combat zone , in an environment that was both powerfully spiritual and supremely threatening . when we first arrived , the chaplains and soldiers were pumped up , ready to go , prepared to ''get it over and go home . '' when the first casualty reports came in , gen . h . norman_schwarzkopf was elated because they were so low . but then a scud warhead fell on a warehouse in dhahran , killing 28 soldiers and wounding more than 100 . some of the bodies were badly burned some were beyond recognition . that was a dozen years ago , but the war really never stopped . our soldiers stayed in kuwait , our planes flew over the no flight zones . then a new war , a different war began . the united_states and a handful of allies launched a pre_emptive strike with overwhelming force against many of the same poorly led iraqi soldiers we saw last time . one of the expectations for soldiers on any operation is that they will face a challenging enemy . when the opposition crumbles and there are just snipers and small bands of guerrillas , the proportionality of response from overwhelming firepower seems unjust and sometimes even unnecessary . nothing undermines morale among soldiers faster than a perception that all of this , the loss of friends and even the unintentional killing of civilians , may have been unnecessary . as is always the case , much of the preparation for combat in this most recent war was an endless cycle of training . troops learned quickly that they could trust only one another for the essentials they needed . racial and gender differences disappeared as units bonded to survive the 24 hour days with no weekends off . trucks were the lifelines for food , water and even toilet_paper . after months of waiting , combat came quickly in this war . at first , the operation seemed familiar business as usual . but then came the dreaded urban_warfare . no matter how much you 've trained , you are never prepared for the sight of homes turned to rubble or the smell of burned flesh or the sound of a mother wailing among the debris , searching for her missing child . and of course , there 's no military manual to prepare you for the pain of seeing your buddy die because you could n't seal off his sucking chest wound , or the shock associated with having to fire on a civilian vehicle that would not stop for a checkpoint , or seeing two women , an old man and a child lying dead along the road . and then there 's the morning after a particularly fierce battle when the captain , just a few years out of west_point , told his troops to look for drums , containers , anything that looked like a weapon_of_mass_destruction . you searched all day , but nothing turned up . and now some of the troops are starting to come home , looking forward to much needed sleep and dreaming of big macs and taco bell menus . they remember the guy who bled to death and wish like hell they had been able to stop the bleeding . they almost cry , but stop just in time . they think of the children with stumps for arms , or those lying face down in the dust in some village with no name . was it an air strike that took them out , or was it me ? not knowing is the only salvation . they 'll talk of this only to other soldiers . years later , at barbecue reunions with medals and overseas caps they 'll hear of someone who was in the gulf , in afghanistan , in iraq . ''where were you ? '' is the first question . that means , if you were with me , in my unit , in the same fight , maybe , after a few beers , we 'll talk . there are no magic words i can say to them . all i can do is wait patiently and listen when they 're ready to speak . maybe i can help him or her realize that ambiguity is part of war , and that there is forgiveness for acts done without intention . the ''collateral_damage'' is regrettable , but forgivable . without really knowing why , forgiveness is what they 're after . for most of us , memorial day is a day off from work to celebrate america , or go to the park , or to the beach . it 's a day filled with marching bands , flag waving , fire trucks and speeches . but for the returning soldiers , sailors , airmen and marines , this holiday will be too clean , too neat , too nice . how could all these people know what memories there really are about wounded friends , burned out homes , dead children and no clear answers ? instead , those of us who have seen combat will lift a glass ''to the guys , '' to those who put their lives in neutral , their educations in abeyance and their families on hold , and paid the price . it 's hard for troops to come home , because in a way , they can never come home . but we honor them just the same especially those who are celebrating their first memorial day since being in combat . we honor them for taking up what president john f . kennedy called the burden and the sacrifice of being free . op_ed contributor john w . brinsfield is a retired colonel in the united_states army chaplain corps .

suicide bombers who lured unsuspecting pilgrims with cakes , and gunmen firing out of passing cars , turned preparations for a shiite_muslim religious celebration into a day of carnage on tuesday . at least 109 shiite_pilgrims were killed and more than 200 wounded with the death toll continuing to rise . the american military also announced an unusually high death toll for american soldiers nine killed on monday , including six soldiers riding in two vehicles who died from the same huge bomb blast north of baghdad . the attacks demonstrated that sunni militants could still inflict grave damage inside or outside the capital even as the american backed baghdad security plan entered its fourth week . the attacks immediately drew shiite calls for reprisals . in hilla , a southern city on the road that shiite_pilgrims from the south travel on the way to the holy_city of karbala , the first suicide_bomber drew people in by handing them food , an age old custom during the annual arbaeen religious festival , which ends 40 days of mourning the death of the revered shiite martyr imam hussein , the grandson of the prophet_muhammad . ''the first bomber with the explosive belt was giving cakes to the pilgrims , '' said one survivor , ali hussain . a second bomber waited a few minutes for relatives and friends to rush to the wounded . mr . hussain , 30 , survived that blast , too . ''i was thrown up into the air and landed on my back behind a concrete wall , '' he said . ''i saw women and children getting blown up and torn to pieces . i got up and started removing the banners and religious symbols , so they would n't get covered with blood . '' the back to back attacks killed at least 77 people and wounded 127 more , the iraqi authorities said . state run television reported a death toll closer to 100 , with twice as many wounded . the late afternoon attacks in hilla followed a dozen attacks around baghdad that killed at least 32 shiite_pilgrims heading south to karbala . most were killed by hidden bombs or by gunmen firing on pedestrians in drive by shootings . the shiites made easy targets , waving_flags as they marched through the western half of the capital near the tigris_river or walked along the highway leading south out of dora , one of baghdad 's most violent districts . together , the attacks represented the deadliest spate of violence since a huge truck_bomb destroyed the sadriya market in central baghdad one month ago . about 200 feet from the blast site in hilla , local residents had set up chairs and tents as a rest stop for the pilgrims streaming up from southern iraq , who had 25 miles to go to reach karbala . but the explosion left blood and hunks of human flesh covering the ground and stuck to the facade of the shops and the textile factory that surround the bomb site , a wide avenue divided by a foot and a half tall concrete barrier . most victims were from kut , diwaniya , nasiriya and samawa , many of them women and children , the iraqi_police said . in less than half an hour , local drivers and ambulances had removed the bodies and taken the wounded to hospitals , with one exception the torso of the first bomber lay on the ground , frayed wires still draping his chest . he appeared to have been a heavyset man . by early wednesday morning no groups had taken credit for the attacks . in the chaotic aftermath of the hilla blasts , survivors not only accused sunni terrorists of carrying out the attacks but also blamed the iraqi_police and american_forces for allowing them too happen . enraged , they said iraqi policemen had stopped the shiite marchers from searching unfamiliar people nearby . ''we hold the police responsible , '' said khudair abbas , 67 , a survivor . ''we were searching the pilgrims to look for terrorists , and a police force came and prevented us from searching , saying that it is their job to do . a few minutes after the police left , the explosion happened ! '' ahmad hassan , 22 , told a similar story . ''the police told us that we have no right to search the pilgrims and that it is only the police who have the right to do so , '' he said . mr . hussain said it appeared the police were intent on breaking up any effort by the mahdi army , the large militia controlled by anti american shiite_cleric_moktada_al_sadr , to impose its own security on the march , as in past years . ''but there was no mahdi army among us , '' mr . hussain said . ''we were all locals from the same area . '' hilla hospitals struggled to deal with all the casualties . ''we have a shortage of space because babylon hospital can not take all these wounded , '' said dr . ahmad ugrish , deputy manager of the provincial health department . ''we asked for help from najaf and karbala to send us more ambulances , and we asked people to give blood . '' the turnout for this year 's celebration of arbaeen , which will commemorate this saturday the 40th day after the defeat and death of imam hussein at karbala in 680 a.d. , is expected to be immense . about a million shiites are expected to converge on karbala on saturday , several shiite government officials said . the large turnout appears to be testimony to a widespread feeling among shiites that they must stand firm against those who attack them and their faith . not long after the hilla blasts , defiant survivors on the scene chanted , ''we will keep our promise to you , zahra , in spite of america and terrorists , '' a reference to the daughter of the prophet_muhammad . in the past few days , shiites waving_flags and chanting have flooded the highways to karbala . some travel on foot for as many as five days from basra in the south of iraq and others make shorter treks from baghdad and diyala . fellow shiites offer them water , meals or a place to sleep for the night during the march . ''this march toward the holy_city is a big challenge to terrorism , '' said haitham al husseini , a senior adviser to one of iraq 's most powerful leaders , abdul_aziz_al_hakim , head of the supreme council for the islamic_revolution in iraq , a shiite political_party . ''in some of the crowds today they were chanting , 'even if we are faced by a million terrorists on the road , we will not stop our march to the holy_city , ' '' he said . ''they were saying that today before the bombs , but i am sure that they will say it again tomorrow . '' prime_minister_nuri_kamal_al_maliki , a shiite , vowed that ''this terrible crime against harmless people will not pass without punishment , and those who are calling for division , which they started through their twisted fatwas , carry the responsibility of this massacre . '' near the northern city of mosul , insurgents overran the badoosh prison and staged a large jailbreak on tuesday afternoon . a police commander in mosul , gen . muhammad al waga , said 47 inmates were still at_large . a suicide car_bomb in western mosul also killed five people , the police said . at least 30 bodies were discovered scattered around baghdad on tuesday , all but one on the west side of the tigris , according to an interior_ministry official . the american military command released few details of the deaths of the nine american servicemen on monday . six soldiers were killed and three others wounded by a blast that struck two vehicles during combat in salahuddin_province , the vast sunni area that stretches north from the capital through samarra and saddam_hussein 's home region to northern iraq . ''it was a large i.e.d . , '' said lt . col . christopher_garver , a military spokesman in baghdad , using the military 's abbreviation for an improvised_explosive_device , or roadside_bomb . the six soldiers who died were in two vehicles , both struck by the one large bomb , colonel garver said . he declined to say what type of vehicle it was , where the attack happened , or what kind of roadside_bomb it was . another bomb attack on monday killed three soldiers and wounded one during combat operations in diyala_province , the restive area northeast of baghdad where sunni insurgents and shiite_militias fight daily for control of the large city of baquba and the fertile region around it . the reach of war.

markets around the world are used to dealing with conflicting monetary and fiscal policies . but in japan these days , the markets are being torn between happiness over newly friendly central bankers and worry about suddenly hostile cops . for the moment , fear of cops seems paramount . to occidental ears , the scandal sounds a bit odd . what the big brokers seem to have done is to bring to securities sales the policy that once made sears this nation 's leading retailer " satisfaction guaranteed or your money back . " the brokers are accused not of defrauding customers , but of refunding their losses . the refunds went only to the biggest and most powerful clients , and shock is being voiced at the idea that some customers are treated better than others . it is reminiscent of claude rains 's professed surprise at gambling in casablanca , and speculation is rampant that something more must be going on . francis scotland , who runs the bank credit analyst in montreal , suggests that perhaps the brokers , in effect , turned themselves in to the government , hoping it would force them to welch on their promises to customers . " the real risk " to the markets , suggested john lipsky , salomon_brothers 's director of international research , " would be if there was a direct political connection , as there was in the recruit scandal . " the fact that japanese brokers were offering guarantees against loss is an obvious sign of complacency and is the type of excess that yashushi mieno , the governor of japan 's central_bank , had vowed to wipe out . so it came as a big surprise to nearly everyone when mr . mieno began last week by cutting the discount_rate . the initial reaction was bullish , not just in japan , where the nikkei_225 index soared 3.5 percent on monday , but around the world . " mr . mieno is showing himself to be not impervious to the actions of markets , " said lewis e . lehrman , the chairman of lehrman buell mueller cannon inc . and one time candidate for governor of new york . " this is the first step in the move of the entire japanese establishment to a 1992 expansion . " but the enthusiasm soon faded . the nikkei ended the week at its lowest level since january . in the united_states , the dow_jones_industrial_average slipped late in the week , although still ending with a rise of 25 . 72 points , to 2 , 932 . 47 . optimism about the world 's economic_growth has generally grown in the last six months , but that confidence may be wider than it is deep , and it soon occurred to many that the bank of japan 's reversal of course could signify it was newly alarmed about the possibility of a recession in that country . the slight rise in american unemployment in june , the month after the recession was supposed to have bottomed out , added to nervousness . still , markets generally do better if central bankers are friendly , and cops eventually go back to chasing other kinds of crooks . mr . scotland thinks japan 's discount_rate cut is the " beginning of a major change in central_bank policy " that will eventually aid american stock prices . market watch.

on a recent evening , a crowd of elegantly dressed people , many of them democrats , gathered at the hilton_hotel in manhattan to honor a brooklyn housing group founded by one of the state 's most famous liberals , senator robert f . kennedy . and there , seated near the front , was an unlikely guest of honor senator alfonse m . d'amato , the three term republican running hard for a fourth . mr . d'amato had just completed another day of attacking his democratic challenger , representative charles e . schumer , as being a brooklyn liberal . but this evening , the senator accepted an award for his work on behalf of the nonpartisan group , the bedford stuyvesant restoration corporation , and then started into a speech peppered with phrases mr . kennedy would have appreciated . ''this group is about investing back in people , '' mr . d'amato said , his voice rising in volume and pitch . ''it is about fighting to take back our communities and our homes and our schools , about empowering youngsters , empowering the community . '' to his critics and supporters alike , this was alfonse marcello d'amato doing what he seems to do best these days dancing away from a republican_party that seems anathema to many new yorkers , and surgically slicing at the grand coalition that has sustained new york 's democratic_party from the days of franklin d . roosevelt . but a review of mr . d'amato 's most recent term shows that , for all his shifting on the edges , he remains a fundamentally conservative politician among the most conservative senators the state has had since world_war_ii . he staunchly opposes abortion and gun_control , regularly advocates tougher penalties for criminals and has rarely met a tax cut he did not like . he endorsed major portions of newt_gingrich 's contract with america in 1995 and hailed the republican takeover of congress as a stinging repudiation of liberalism . and he continues to receive among the highest ratings in the northeast from conservative groups like the christian_coalition . it is a good bet , though , that many new yorkers are not familiar with mr . d'amato 's conservative credentials a new york times_cbs_news_poll taken from oct . 1 to oct . 6 showed , for instance , that 71 percent of voters did not know his position on abortion and only 39 percent considered him a conservative . that is in part because for the last three years , facing what he expected to be a difficult re election campaign , and recognizing that the conservative revolution of 1994 had fallen precipitously from favor , mr . d'amato has worked harder than ever to clothe his conservative core in the gauzier attire of a moderate . one of the wiliest pragmatists in congress , he has done this in signature d'amato style grabbing a few high profile , emotional and mostly nonideological issues that appeal to targeted constituencies , and then fighting for them in tenacious , and sometimes showy , fashion . he has championed the cause of breast_cancer victims , repeatedly threatening to hold up legislation on the senate floor to get what he wants . he has chided his own majority leader , trent_lott , for equating homosexuality with a sin and has won the endorsement of a major gay and lesbian group for his troubles . he has demanded that swiss banks release the stolen assets of holocaust victims and has won accolades within a constituency that democrats consider a fundamental part of their base . and he has been silent on president_clinton 's problems in the monica_lewinsky affair , just a few years after he grabbed headlines with his aggressive investigation of mr . clinton as chairman of the senate whitewater committee . mr . d'amato says he takes positions based on conviction , not politics . his supporters add that he has never been a rigid ideologue and has always been able to work with democrats . indeed , his advisers say what could make or break his re election chances is that so many beneficiaries of his work as ''senator pothole'' have been democrats . even an old nemesis , former gov . mario m . cuomo , who was ousted in 1994 by mr . d'amato 's protege , george e . pataki , acknowledged that ''when i asked for help as governor , he was there . '' but , mr . cuomo added in the next breath ''there is no question he will deliver little packages the way old politicians did with bags of coal in the winter . but we also need an intelligent position on gun_control , on abortion , on helping with education and h.m.o . 's and all of this . and he 's nowhere on that stuff . '' in his 1995 autobiography , ''power , pasta and politics , '' mr . d'amato , now 61 , talks of two major movements that shaped his political thinking the rise of barry m . goldwater and the republican_party 's conservative wing in the early 1960 's , and the emergence of the bloc of conservative working_class voters who became known as reagan democrats in the 1980 's . recalling how he gave out american flags during his 1970 campaign for receiver of taxes in the town of hempstead in nassau_county , mr . d'amato described his attempts to reach those conservatives ''i won because patriotism was n't just a gimmick , it was something that my generation and my parents' generation knew to be fundamental about being an american . '' ten years later , when he was presiding supervisor of hempstead , mr . d'amato stunned the political world by handily defeating the state 's liberal republican senator , jacob k . javits , in the primary . with mr . javits drawing votes on the liberal_party line from the democratic candidate , elizabeth_holtzman , mr . d'amato won the general_election with just 45 percent of the vote , carried along on ronald_reagan 's coattails . under mr . d'amato 's leadership , the state republican_party proceeded to marginalize the rockefeller moderates who had dominated it for decades , refashioned itself in his hard edged image and forged close alliances with the conservative and right to life parties , which have endorsed mr . d'amato in all his senate races . in style , mr . d'amato is only slightly more buttoned down than he was in those early years . he still screams at aides in his office , particularly when guests are present , calls men he does not know ''buddy'' and ''big guy , '' and kisses women on the hand . the epithets flow as freely as ever , as evidenced in his calling mr . schumer ''putzhead'' during a meeting with jewish leaders earlier this week . in public , he is a whirling dervish of energy , alternately overbearing and charming . ''hey , chollie , '' he bellowed at representative charles b . rangel , a manhattan democrat , before bear hugging him outside the senate_chamber recently . but if mr . d'amato 's style remains much the same , the political ground has shifted dramatically beneath him . bill clinton 's election in 1992 gave new vitality to a more centrist wing of the democratic_party . and the rise of the christian right created unease among many moderate new york republicans , many of them suburban voters crucial to mr . d'amato 's political calculus . the republicans' midterm victory in 1994 seemed to vindicate mr . d'amato 's more conservative positions , at least briefly . but by 1996 , polls showed that mr . gingrich and his contract with america were deeply unpopular in new york . mr . clinton trounced mr . d'amato 's candidate for president , bob_dole . mr . d'amato 's role as chairman of the whitewater committee was panned in new york . his approval_ratings plummeted into the low 30 's . by 1997 , the repositioning of mr . d'amato was well under way . he stopped attacking the president a trend that continues today , with mr . d'amato refusing to condemn mr . clinton 's relationship with ms . lewinsky or to take a public position on impeachment . and he seized on a host of traditionally democratic issues , from the environment to reforming health_insurance to restore welfare benefits to immigrants . mr . d'amato 's supporters contend that his work on many of those issues was not related to political trends . his efforts on breast_cancer , for instance , began in 1990 when the group one in nine approached him about getting federal funds to study the high incidence of the disease on long_island . they also note that long before he began hectoring swiss banks to release the assets of holocaust victims , he was a strong supporter of israel . and when mr . d'amato first announced to the world his support for civil_rights for homosexuals a floor speech supporting homosexuals in the military in january 1993 he had just won re election and was not under political pressure to adopt democratic stances , his allies contend . ''that was a year he could have coasted , '' an adviser said . fluctuations in voting record but to many democrats , mr . d'amato 's leftward march has been a cynical , poll driven effort to rebuild his low approval_ratings , something they say he did before his last campaign , in 1992 . to defend their assertion , they point to the significant changes in the grades he has received from some of the more liberal special interest groups in recent years . in 1992 , for instance , mr . d'amato 's scores from the a.f.l . c . i.o. , the league of conservation voters and the consumer federation of america all rose above his lifetime averages . but those scores dropped sharply in 1995 , largely because of his votes for the contract with america . by last year , though , his ratings from all three groups had climbed back up . though such scorecards rarely sway blocs of voters , they are used by interest groups to decide endorsements . that may be one reason , analysts say , that for the last three years mr . d'amato has been championing high profile issues and bucking his leadership more often . indeed , the number of times he voted with the republican majority fell from 90 percent in 1995 to 67 percent last year . ''he has a real feel for how to capitalize on symbolically important issues to key constituencies , '' said thomas_mann , director of governmental studies at the brookings institution , a policy research organization . this year , mr . d'amato voted with the minority to raise the minimum_wage . the vote may have helped prevent the state a.f.l . c . i . o , usually a democratic bastion , from endorsing mr . schumer this year , union officials said . he also sponsored legislation intended to reduce acid_rain and testified at senate hearings on the subject last month . the move won him accolades from a number of conservation groups in the adirondacks at a time when other organizations , like the sierra_club , were harshly criticizing mr . d'amato 's lifetime environmental record . on the banking committee , mr . d'amato has pushed hard for a number of consumer rights measures , including legislation to prevent mortgage_insurance companies from overcharging customers , and rules that require banks to make loans in their communities . those efforts have helped counter democratic assertions that he uses the committee to do favors for banks and securities_firms that give him large campaign contributions , analysts say . ''he 's much more pro consumer than any other republican on that committee , '' said ed mierzwinski , director of consumer programs for the united_states public_interest_research_group , an advocacy organization . master of the art of appropriations congressional experts say mr . d'amato has never had a major impact on domestic or foreign_policy , or been known for his skills in writing legislation . but on one thing , many democrats and republicans agree the senator is an expert at getting things out of the federal bureaucracy and bringing those things home . as soon as he arrived in washington , mr . d'amato became a master of the appropriations process , which requires a horse trader 's sense , good personal relations and a lot of badgering . he was soon dubbed senator pothole , a title of derision that he now wears as a badge of honor . this year , mr . d'amato helped lead a fight to prevent senators from the south and west from sharply reducing federal mass transit spending . though he was slow to enter the battle , mr . d'amato 's threats to block a huge highway spending bill and his influence with senator pete v . domenici , the chairman of the budget committee , helped win a major increase in new york 's transit funding , negotiators said . ''there were a lot of senators from the northeast who would stop by and say , 'd'amato 's told us to do this , ' '' said mr . domenici , a new mexico republican who is one of mr . d'amato 's closest friends in the senate . ''d'amato was ginning up all these guys to talk to me . '' mr . d'amato 's resourcefulness also led to one of his major legislative triumphs using the defense budget to finance breast_cancer research . mr . d'amato devised the financing scheme , which has provided 900 million since 1992 , to get around the spending restrictions then in place on other federal departments . for politicians across the state , mr . d'amato has become known as the go to senator . and in congress , democratic officials say mr . d'amato always returns their calls promptly . ''i would think a lot of democrats would have a difficult time campaigning hard against d'amato because of their good relations with him , '' said the chief of staff to a democratic member of congress . ''if you need anything done , you 've got to go to d'amato . distasteful or not , you 've got to do it . '' in some ways , a bit like clinton for a man who has spent much of the last six years attacking , investigating and trying to unseat the president , there is something oddly clintonesque about mr . d'amato . both men have been the subject of repeated inquiries by congress and prosecutors . both men are considered consummate politicians and deal makers . and both have had to use every ounce of their political skills to recover from lapses in judgment . and like mr . clinton 's detractors , mr . schumer clearly believes that the weight of mr . d'amato 's past will bring him down . though mr . schumer has not made ethics a central campaign issue , his aides are not shy about recounting the senator 's past problems . in 1991 , the senate ethics committee rebuked the senator for allowing his brother , armand , to write a letter on behalf of a law client on senate stationery . in 1992 , a puerto_rican developer was charged with funneling 32 , 000 in illegal contributions to his campaign the charge was dismissed . in 1993 , he made a_37 , 125 profit in one day of stock trades with a firm that had been repeatedly investigated by securities regulators . in none of those cases was mr . d'amato found to have broken any laws . the schumer camp also likes to suggest that new yorkers are embarrassed by their junior senator , from his singing ''old macdonald had some pork'' during a floor debate in 1994 to his heavily accented imitation of lance a . ito , the judge in the o . j . simpson murder trial , on the don_imus radio program in 1995 . but what mr . d'amato may have going for him , some democrats say , is precisely what mr . schumer is hoping will be his achilles' heel people already know much about him . he has been thoroughly investigated . his senate record has been pored over . and , mr . d'amato 's handlers contend , just enough voters are comfortable with what they see , warts and all . for that reason , an embattled alfonse d'amato will still be tough to beat , many democrats acknowledge . ''clinton is not as good as d'amato , '' mr . cuomo said . ''d'amato swims at the tops of waves . " the 1998 campaign race for the senate the incumbent.

lead contracts for new construction declined 6 percent in april , reaching a four year low and resuming a slide that began late last year , the f . w . dodge division of mcgraw_hill inc . reported yesterday . contracts for new construction declined 6 percent in april , reaching a four year low and resuming a slide that began late last year , the f . w . dodge division of mcgraw_hill inc . reported yesterday . ''events of the past six months have changed the character of the construction sector from stable to vulnerable , '' said george a . christie , chief economist at f . w . dodge . he said tight credit for builders had become a bigger problem than mortgage rates . ''the current rate of contracting , which is only about 85 percent of what it was last fall , seems to bear out the concern that we 've been getting an overreaction by bankers to the regulatory clampdown on high risk real_estate lending practices , '' mr . christie said . the dodge index , which uses 1982 as its base of 100 , dropped to 146 in april from 156 in march . the last time the index was lower than 146 was in january 1986 , when it reached 145 . with the exception of a 3 percent increase in march , the index has been declining since it peaked at 181 in september .

the allied military commander in iraq , lt . gen . ricardo_sanchez , said on saturday that american_troops had ''achieved a significant decrease in attacks'' with the help of iraqis who were coming forward in growing numbers to identify those planning and mounting insurgent strikes . the general struck an upbeat tone at a news conference at the heavily_fortified convention_center here , where he said that the american led forces had experienced ''another great week , '' compared with a deadly november in which more than 80 american_soldiers died . that death toll accounted for nearly half of the 197 american_soldiers who have died in combat including one on friday since president_bush declared major combat operations in iraq concluded on may 1 . but the end of the muslim holy month of ramadan a period chosen by the insurgents for a stepped up campaign of roadside_bombings , ambushes and attacks on military helicopters , and answered by a tough american counteroffensive has been followed by relative_calm . general sanchez said the daily tally of insurgent_attacks had fallen to ''around 20'' an average of 21 for the past week , according to a staff officer from an average of more than 40 a day , and a one day high of 55 , during ramadan , which ended nov . 24 . the principal reason he cited for the decline was that , after months of inadequate intelligence , the americans were benefiting from ''a significant number of iraqis who are willing to come forward and sacrifice'' their safety to offer what he called ''actionable intelligence . '' he also said that pay for recruits for the new iraqi_army would be reviewed , after a wave of desertions linked to the low pay of 60 a month , in order to attract an keep more iraqi soldiers . the united_states_central_command in florida issued a statement on saturday saying that a soldier had died friday after a convoy was hit by a roadside_bomb in ramadi , 60 miles west of baghdad . two americans were injured , the command said . in another incident reported on saturday , the american command in baghdad said a roadside_bomb exploded friday as a polish convoy drove through the outskirts of the city of mahaweel , 50 miles south of baghdad , wounding two soldiers . also on saturday , officials with the fourth infantry division said that lt . col . allen b . west , who confessed to mistreating an iraqi during questioning , would not be court_martialed , but would be fined and allowed to retire . general sanchez' appearance followed generally positive assessments here this week by l . paul_bremer iii , the american governor of iraq , and several of the american divisional commanders responsible for areas where insurgents have concentrated their attacks . like mr . bremer , general sanchez said attacks were likely to increase as the june deadline for an iraqi provisional government nears . but he appeared a happier man than he did a month ago . then , he called the conflict here a war , the first time any senior american commander had done so since may 1 , and vowed grimly to use every weapon in the american armory to beat them back . today , he simply said that alliance forces were engaged in a ''low intensity conflict . '' he hinted , too , that the gloves off approach had been set aside , or at least modified . the american approach now , he said , would be to mount raids that were ''precise'' and based on the incoming intelligence . in response to questions , the general acknowledged that the number of detainees in iraq , which he put at 5 , 000 a month ago , was ''now almost to 10 , 000 , '' including 3 , 800 members of the iranian militant group mujahedeen khalq . general sanchez said the iranians were restricted to a camp northeast of baghdad , and that what would become of them was a matter for washington to decide . the general reacted strongly to a suggestion that american commanders were taking a leaf from the israeli military in mounting ''targeted assassinations'' of insurgent leaders that risked civilian casualties , and may also be taking advice from israeli military experts . ''it 's a different time , it 's a different place , it 's a different enemy , it 's a different world , '' he said . u.s . releases prisoners amman , jordan ( ap ) eight jordanian , lebanese and syrian prisoners were flown home saturday after they were released from american run detention_centers in iraq . they were flown from the southern iraqi port city of basra aboard an aircraft for the international committee of the red_cross , which made stops in jordan , syria and lebanon , a red_cross spokesman told the associated press . three of the eight suffered ' 'serious injuries which may result in partial disabilities , '' he said . he said their wounds were inflicted in an ''accident'' during detention . a region inflamed military training.

stocks were higher in tokyo today after surging earlier on a stronger yen and expectations that interest rates would fall . the nikkei index of 225 issues finished up 262 . 18 points , or 1.1 percent , to 23 , 784 . 67 . the gauge ended the morning session up up 7 . 53 points , or less than 1 percent , to 23 , 530 . 02 , with 260 million shares traded . on friday , the nikkei rose 969 . 39 points , or 4.3 percent , to 23 , 522 . 49 . " the market is responding to the variety of good things that would come with easier u.s . credit , " a broker said after morning trading , citing a stronger yen as one result . international report.

japan flipped a switch this morning and started a new era in broadcasting history eight hours a day of high_definition_television brilliant movie_theater images beamed directly from a new satellite over the japanese islands . but despite a lot of government orchestrated hoopla , almost no one was watching at 30 , 000 a set , the advanced televisions are found only in hotel lobbies and big public buildings . and although they toasted the occasion , the nation 's broadcasters and electronics executives spent the day wondering whether , after two decades of work and billions of dollars in investments , they were backing an aging television technology that might burn out before its first commercial break . with the start of regular broadcasts of its hi vision system , japan became the first nation to bring hdtv to prime time and hopes to show the world the length of its lead in high_definition technology . it was an event fraught with political significance as japan , the united_states and europe all wrestle to set the technical standards for the next generation of television technology , arguing whether japan 's well tested system is preferable to new but yet untried alternatives . the government declared today hi vision day because the calendar seemed auspicious . the date 11 25 neatly matches the 1 , 125 lines on a japanese high_definition screen . to mark the occasion , the nation 's electronics executives got together to toast the realization of a dream . " this is a curtain raiser for the hi vision era , " said akio tanii , the president of the matsushita electric industrial company , which has a lot riding on the future of the technology . " we are full of expections for hi vision in the 21st_century . " mr . tanii might have to wait that long . despite government reports a few years ago that predicted 1.1 percent of japan 's 120 million television viewers would have hdtv by now , only 2 , 000 sets have been sold . one reason may be the 30 , 000 price for a high_definition set . and that is without a vcr . the nec corporation introduced a compact , lightweight vcr for hdtv last week , in time for christmas , priced at 115 , 000 . a textbook problem the makers are stuck in a classic consumer_electronics bind without high volume production , it is nearly impossible to lower prices , but without lower prices , demand will be small . " yes , the price is coming down a little more slowly than we hoped , " haruo kurakata , a spokesman for nhk , japan 's national broadcaster and the leader of the high_definition_television development effort , said . but by 1996 , he added , the industry hopes to have a million sets on the market . the problem for the japanese makers is that the longer they wait , the more outdated the hi vision technology seems . developed in the 1970 's , it is based entirely on analog technology , in which the signal is sent as a continuous wave , much like existing television broadcasts . the united_states , eager to take some wind out of the japan 's sails , has made it clear in recent months that it plans to skip the hi vision standard to develop a new , all digital_television standard . at that point , televisions and computers would blend together the images could be manipulated and stored just like computer graphics . the federal_communications_commission is expected to make a decision about an american standard in 1993 , after completing a series of tests to evaluate competing systems . europe is proposing a completely different standard , proposed by european makers . trying to play down the national differences , japanese companies say there may well be two hdtv 's their simpler version now , and a digital system around 2010 , which is how long many believe it will take to work out a method of broadcasting the digital signnals . but it would be simplistic to suggest that this is a japan versus america race even if the united_states goes its own way , the japanese are not likely to be cut out . the assumption is that most of the advanced televisions will be made by japanese concerns . the last american television maker is the zenith_electronics corporation , and it just moved its production to mexico . indeed , all of the japanese makers have opened what they loosely call hdtv research laboratories in the united_states to monitor the development of american standards . " no matter what the standard is , we will build televisions to fit it , " a marketing executive of the sony_corporation said today . the profits , however , rest in the television 's components . japan will obviously benefit greatly from all of the memory chips contained in a high_definition_television , because it is the main source of these chips . but if a digital system is developed , american made logic chips that will process the signal and turn the digital bits into a crisp picture , will likely play a central role . the lsi logic corporation , texas instruments inc . and motorola inc . have all entered agreements recently to become suppliers of hdtv chips , in part because of the political pressures on japan to make sure americans get a big slice of the pie . " there is a lot of digital processing know how in the united_states , said peter wolff , technology analyst for kidder , peabody in tokyo . and although japan is developing this technology , too , he said , " politics will make sure there is a lot of american content . " different consumer habits if japanese makers stick with their original hi vision system , however , the reason may go to the heart of some differences between japanese and american consumers . as a rule , japanese buyers are happy to invest in one technology for a few years , then scrap it for something better . ( the evidence can be found in what the japanese call " sodai gomi " day , for " big garbage , " when perfectly good stereo amplifiers , home computers and other electronic goods are discarded to make room for newer models in millions of crowded japanese living rooms . ) indeed , more and more , japanese electronics companies are talking about hi vision as a transition product before a fully digital system . but that system , they say , will not come until 2010 or 2015 . the japanese manufacturers industry says it cannot wait that long to jump start the color_television business , which hit a production peak in 1985 and has since declined appreciably . " they need people to buy new , big boxes , " mr . wolff said . indeed , that is why japanese electronics makers are also pushing new , extended definition sets that are compatible with existing television signals but not the new hdtv system and cost a few thousand dollars . americans , in contrast , seem more likely to complain about the need to constantly upgrade equipment . even in japan , however , selling the hi vision system is dependent on getting better programming . and the first scramble might be to keep the screen filled for eight hours , a significant expansion of the one hour daily experiment of the last two years . so far , there are about 350 hours of programming available , or enough to last one and a half months . while additional programs will continue to be produced at very high cost , advanced television viewers may come to discover that reruns are not limited to conventional technology . to promote the system , nhk is also broadcasting live events , including the summer and winter_olympics . a private television_network , renting time on the new satellite that has a dedicated high_definition channel , is planning to broadcast hockey . on sunday afternoon , crowds in tokyo 's shopping district stopped to watch high_definition broadcasts of the last day of a particularly tense sumo wrestling tournament it may have been an omen that the winner was an american , konishiki , who tips the scales at about 525 pounds . today , one of the country 's largest newspapers , mainichi shimbun , suggested that the way to bolster advanced television would be to broadcast the wedding of the crown_prince . it was the marriage of his parents , emperor_akihito and princess michiko , three decades ago that prompted millions of japanese to buy their first television sets . there is only one problem , and it is out of the hands of matsushita , sony and toshiba the imperial_household_agency is still desperately trying to find a bride .

in an interview on wednesday , the treasury_secretary , nicholas f . brady , said that at the london economic summit conference of the seven major industrial countries later this month , the united_states would press for a " three pronged strategy " to lift the world_economy out of stagnation and help rescue the economies of the fledgling democracies of eastern_europe and the soviet_union . at the end of the meeting of the rich industrial countries , mikhail s . gorbachev will arrive for talks on reconstruction , trade and aid , first with president_bush and then with the other western leaders . these are three elements in the united_states strategy for the meeting that mr . brady described a more dynamic monetary_policy aimed at bringing down real interest rates what money really costs borrowers after allowing for inflation to stimulate economic_growth and yield more employment , income and a higher rate of capital formation for a world desperately short of capital . an international_trade policy focused on the successful completion of the current round of negotiations under the general agreement on tariffs and trade . the talks are aimed at opening markets in all countries and breaking down regional barriers to the flow of goods , including agricultural products and textiles , as well as services and intellectual_property . the elimination of structural rigidities hampering job_creation and productivity growth within countries , whether capitalist , socialist or still struggling in the transition from communism to a market_economy . in describing his overall strategy , mr . brady said , " when i first raised it last april , i was cast as a johnny one note . " the " one note " heard by his critics in the united_states and abroad was his call for lower interest rates . foreign governments and publications said the united_states had shown itself to be , as the economist put it , " incapable of wise leaderhip . " many blamed mr . brady for trying to force monetary expansion at the risk of reigniting inflation . now mr . brady is seeking to put his quest for lower interest rates in a broader context and to reply to the charge that he is soft on inflation . " the economists always insist that we must have non inflationary growth , " he said , while he prefers to talk in terms of low inflationary growth . mr . brady is doubtful , as was the late prof . sumner slichter of harvard in the early post world_war_ii period , that zero inflation and vigorous growth are compatible . like professor slichter 's position , mr . brady 's is regarded by many conservatives as not just heretical but , far worse , undeliverable and unstable . the acceptance of even low inflation is likely to lead to a much higher rate of inflation , the critics say . in the 1950 's and early 1960 's , however , low inflation by professor slichter 's definition , 2 percent a year did prove consistent with strong economic_growth in the united_states . in the 15 years from 1950 through 1964 , real economic_growth in the united_states averaged 4 percent a year . with the escalation of the vietnam_war in the mid 1960 's and the failure of the johnson administration to cut domestic spending or raise taxes to pay for the war and the great society , the compatibility of low inflation with high growth was shattered . mr . brady believes that the world 's economic leaders need greater confidence and should concentrate on positive goals , like growth and open world trade , rather than being hamstrung by negatives like fear of inflation and unemployment . he did not try to defend all the policies that had produced economic_growth and financial boom in the 1980 's . on the contrary , he was highly critical of the wave of leveraged_buyouts of corporations in the united_states and excessive debt creation . " the banking system is less strong , " he said . " are certain banks in trouble ? of course . bigger banks ? yes ! " but the mistakes of the 1980 's , he said , should not deter us from moving ahead , " so that we 're creating jobs , increasing investment . " affirming that " a strategy of hope is important , " mr . brady drew a comparison with what he is proposing for the world_economy and with the policy taken vis a vis mexico , which , he said , is moving ahead economically " by marrying the brady plan for reducing mexico 's foreign debt with president salinas 's progress in opening up markets . " he said that in convincing mexicans , including expatriates as well as foreigners , that mexico meant business and that debt reduction would work , what critics regarded as the missing element in the formulation of the plan money was flowing into the country . mr . brady said the inflow to mexico of expatriate capital would rise this year to 14 billion from 4 billion last year . mr . brady said he believed other governments were " getting the message " that he has been trying to deliver for a comprehensive growth oriented strategy , including reductions in interest rates . he called attention to the bank of japan 's half point cut in its discount_rate , its benchmark rate of interest , to 5.5 percent on monday . japan had been holding interest rates high to wring inflation out of the economy . mr . brady said he also saw evidence that britain , italy , spain and denmark were moving to lower rate policies . he was more equivocal about germany , where karl_otto_pohl has resigned as head of the bundesbank to be replaced by another monetary hard_liner , helmut_schlesinger . timothy deal , a member of the national_security_council who is helping to prepare the united_states position for the london summit meeting , said he thought the germans were still adamant about their rate policies . mr . brady 's line on the urgency of growth appears to be gaining international support . this week , the united_nations world economic survey for 1991 predicted that global economic_growth this year would be zero and would rise in 1992 to only 2 percent barely enough to keep pace with population_growth . and the u.n . declared " in various industrialized_countries , the monetary authorities feel that output growth over 2 or 3 percent a year would be inflationary and must be restrained . as long as this view prevails , these nations cannot serve their historic role as an engine of world economic_growth . " the survey concluded that the present mix of monetary and fiscal_policy seems to express political priorities in which unemployment is an acceptable price for containing inflation , " and high real interest rates are welcomed even at the expense of growth , at least in the short term . " if such policies continue , the report said , " the more dynamic international economic environment needed for a shorter adjustment in the developing_countries and a less costly transition in eastern_europe and the soviet_union will not materialize . " this will be not only the united_nations' but the united_states' line at the summit meeting in london . mr . brady said that as he saw it , a strategy for regenerating growth is the most important item on the summit 's agenda .

china_central_television , or cctv , and the panamsat corporation announced yesterday that they had a satellite delivery agreement that would enable cctv , a chinese state broadcaster , to expand its reach to much of the world . the 10 year agreement widened coverage of cctv broadcasts to include europe , the middle_east and africa , an official of cctv said . previously , broadcasts covered asia and north_america only . fredrick landman , the president and chief executive of panamsat , which is based in greenwich , conn . , said the agreement was worth tens of millions of dollars . panamsat 's shares rose 1 . 125 to 32 . 125 . company news.

general_motors is in trouble for a lot of reasons , but a major one is the difficulty it has had in competing in the american market with automakers from germany , japan and south_korea . so does it really make sense for it to be rescued by renault , a french company that has failed repeatedly in its efforts to sell cars to americans ? here in paris , there is some doubt whether carlos ghosn , who runs both renault and nissan of japan , could really handle another job , as kirk_kerkorian , g.m . 's largest shareholder , seems to want . ''the united_states is different , '' said one french executive , speaking privately . ''when would he sleep ? '' even the french government , which is deeply suspicious of globalization except when a french company emerges triumphant , had trouble deciding whether to be happy . the day after one government minister warned that ''this has to be approached with caution , '' another said the government supported the idea . it is no surprise that the french government would have an opinion , or two , about any deal involving a major french company , but that is starting to irritate some of those who are supposedly helped by the government that invented the phrase ''economic patriotism . '' some comments this week brought back memories of president jacques_chirac 's observation that eastern_european leaders who differed with him had ' 'missed a good opportunity to shut up . '' henri de castries , the chief executive of axa , the insurance_company , said , ''we should not underestimate the damage caused to the image of france by the use of certain words . '' he told a conference sponsored by paris europlace that he was offended when patriotism was used ''as a cover for protectionism . '' g rard mestrallet , the chairman of suez , a large engineering and energy company that is trying to merge with the state controlled gaz de france , wishes people thought the merger was his idea rather than the government 's , even if it was announced by the prime_minister . ''there is a gap between the impression and the reality , '' he said . it may be that some french executives care more about the impression anyway . ''it is not necessary to hold press conferences , '' said rene carron , the chairman of cr_dit_agricole , a large french bank . ''when it comes to economic patriotism , it should be done , but it should not be spoken about at great length . '' the other big_business story in france is the mess at airbus 's parent company , where a french boss who got his job because of president chirac 's support was forced out , but little else was changed . europe has trouble deciding whether airbus is supposed to act like a corporation or an employment project . still , the chance that renault will get the opportunity to fix an icon of american business provides an opportunity for france to prove that it can compete in a world where profits count more than patriotism or protectionism . it may not be easy for a company from a country where the government pays health_care expenses of retirees . g.m . could solve a large part of its problems if it could get the american government to pay those bills , but that is not likely . renault will continue to be remembered by some americans , including me , for its failures . my first car was a used 1958 renault dauphine , which broke down so often that the automobile club of southern california threatened to expel my father if we did not get rid of the car . if renault decides to do this as part of a new effort to get into the american market , g.m . may not have reason to celebrate . more competition is not what it needs most .

the government said economic_growth was slower in the first quarter than it had initially estimated . chinese markets swooned , but american investors reached new heights . the world_bank has big money raising needs for its new leader . china 's stock_market plummeted wednesday after beijing imposed higher taxes on stock trading activity in an attempt to cool off a sizzling market . china 's two major stock indexes fell sharply in a huge sell off , and the shanghai_composite_index was down 6.5 percent . the sharp fall did not sway american markets . the standard_poor 's 500 stock_index closed wednesday at a_level last reached on march 24 , 2000 . it ended the week up 1.4 percent , closing yesterday at 1 , 536 . 34 . for the week , the nasdaq climbed 2.2 percent and the dow_jones_industrial_average gained 1.2 percent . some angry chinese investors , however , lashed out at the government for earlier saying there was no intention to raise the stamp duty tax and then promptly reversing course early wednesday , after the raging bull market reached new highs on monday and tuesday . there were even reports that investors hacked into a government finance web_site and shut it down . on thursday , however , the market recovered slightly , but it continued its slide yesterday , ending the week down 4.3 percent . still , one thing is clear there is no panic . david barboza most popular following are the most popular business news articles on nytimes . com from may 26 through june 1 1 . bumped fliers and no plan b_2 . in fierce competition , google finds novel ways to feed hiring machine 3 . truth , fiction and lou dobbs 4 . apple 's lesson for sony 's stores just connect 5 . lawmakers push for big subsidies for coal process links are at nytimes . com business . five days.

for foreign companies that do business in the united_states , a rising dollar may look like a good bet . there is the bonus of translating dollar profits back into their home currencies and the competitive edge of their exports to america . but looks can be deceiving . take , for example , the sedgwick group p.l.c. , a british commercial property and casualty_insurance broker . more than 50 percent of its sales come from the united_states . but since the dollar began to rally in february , the company has underperformed the financial_times world index for the london market rising 7.8 percent compared with 11 . 7 percent for the index . meanwhile , a group of other dollar positive stocks with smaller percentages of sales in the united_states have outperformed the market . the problem is that the benefits of a stronger dollar can be overwhelmed by other factors . in sedgwick 's case , according to roger harvey , an insurance analyst at kleinwort_benson securities in london , investors were disappointed that insurance rates did n't rise as much as expected this year . the stocks of insurance_companies and brokers like sedgwick rallied at the end of last year on the hope of increases . and this disappointment , he said , has undercut the dollar 's lift . in addition , the benefits of a dollar rally could be muted for many companies because they had already hedged their exposure to the dollar , meaning they may not now get the full benefit of a rally . and each country in europe is affected differently by a dollar rally . paul feldman and sushil wadhwani of goldman_sachs company in london and mushtag shah , a research associate at the london school of economics , have examined these issues in a new analysis of the dollar 's rally . " the idea of this was to alert people that they should not just buy the stocks that have u.s . dollar earnings , " said mr . feldman . " maybe this will make people go back to their analysts and ask , 'why did this stock do that ? ' " they concluded that the dutch market should benefit the most from a dollar rally . into this calculation goes a measure of earnings of companies in these countries that are dollar sensitive , a count of imports and the impact of a lower local_currency on domestic inflation . also included is what they call a " market sacrifice ratio , " which seeks to rate a country 's willingness to accept a little more economic_growth in exchange for a little more inflation . for example , italy is very willing but germany is not . from this , and some additional equations and market assumptions , the team has concluded not only that the dutch market is the biggest beneficiary but that it is followed in decending order by switzerland , germany , italy , britain and france . with a_10 percent increase in the dollar , the dutch market could rise 3.9 percent and switzerland 0.9 percent , not counting other market influences . but there are losses of 0.1 percent for germany , 0.2 percent for italy , 1.3 percent for britain and 1.9 percent for france . the dutch and the swiss markets have the highest earnings exposure to the dollar . while british stocks have a higher earnings exposure than italian stocks , they have a more negative dollar response because of britain 's greater concern about inflation . this means interest rates are apt to be relatively higher than italy 's . on individual stocks , the goldman report tries to pinpoint companies whose dollar bias will allow them to outperform their local market as a whole . the picks are based on analysis of stock movements compared with currency fluctuations since 1986 . but the list is no sure thing . sedgwick , which has the highest dollar exposure , is on the list of 15 british stocks . still , as a group , the 15 outperformed the rest of the london market by an average of 4 percentage_points from feb . 11 to april 2 , during which time the dollar rose 13 . 6 percent against the sterling . also among the 15 are btr , lonrho , glaxo , boc and shell . both shell and boc have underperformed the market but for no clear reason , which leads goldman to believe that they may have some good gains ahead . among the companies on the other country porfolios are klm and ahold in the netherlands , pirelli company and eridania in italy , tattinger and bic in france , ciba geigy and nestle in switzerland , and bmw and hoesch in germany . the portfolios from other countries did better in outperforming their markets than those on the british list . based on history , the british companies were expected to outperform the market by 3.5 percentage_points , just below the actual 4 percent gain . and making the various choices even more difficult , the analysts found that while overall markets might have declined during a dollar rally , the portfolios in these countries did as well or better than the netherlands and switzerland . for example , the dutch portfolio on average rose 4.8 percent , 1 . 92 times the predicted rate of 2.5 percent . but the german portfolio outperformed the market by 9 percent , 1 . 96 times the predicted rate . the italian portfolio was 1 . 75 times the predicted rate , while the swiss portfolio was just 1 . 42 times the predicted rate . one conclusion is that the german stocks , like bmw and hoesch , have already moved too far .

the luxury_goods magnate bernard arnault is preparing to sell christian lacroix , a brand founded in the 1980 's amid white hot demand for designer clothing , but one that never made a profit . the move would be the latest by mr . arnault , chief executive of the luxury group lvmh mo t hennessy_louis_vuitton to refocus on the company 's core brands . among those are dom p rignon champagne , the christian_dior empire , fendi leather goods and the kenzo and givenchy clothing lines . an executive at lvmh confirmed , on condition of anonymity , that a deal was in progress to sell lacroix , the only brand mr . arnault himself started from scratch , to the falic group , a 620 million beauty and duty_free company based in the united_states . the falic group bought two of lvmh 's niche cosmetics brands , hard candy and urban decay , in 2003 . the lvmh executive said that the agreement in progress could not be made public under french law , which requires that a company 's unions first vote on any change in ownership . the preliminary meeting took place on wednesday , and the financial terms will depend on whether the designer christian lacroix agrees to work with the prospective owners . reached at his paris fashion house , mr . lacroix said it was ''premature'' to talk of a sale to people he had met only this week . ''i ca n't understand why people imagine it is a done deal , '' he said . ''and i am astounded that pressure should be put on me when the first priority is the couture and the ready to wear collections . '' mr . lacroix is in the midst of preparing his haute_couture collection to be shown at the end of this month . ''it would be unreasonable for me not to take time to think about it , '' he said . ''after all , there are a lot of people who work with me who are also involved . '' the sale is only partly a result of the age old divide between the creative people and money men at fashion houses . the probable parting of ways between mr . arnault and mr . lacroix might also signal the end of an era , when apparently limitless demand for luxury encouraged optimistic designer start_ups . managing that creativity over time has proved more difficult . other recent turbulence in the luxury world includes the departures of the designer tom ford and the chief executive domenico de sole from the gucci group last year . aftershocks of that rupture were felt this week , when a christian_dior executive was poached by the yves_saint_laurent house of gucci . mr . arnault founded the lacroix house in 1987 . the designer , trained as an art historian , parlayed his sense of color and joie de vivre , related to his native arles in the south of france , into upbeat and exuberantly embellished collections that rejuvenated dusty haute_couture elegance . his ''pouf shirt , '' cut like a mini crinoline , made a splash and put him on the cover of time magazine in the late 1980 's . celebrities he has dressed range from ivana trump in her heyday to uma thurman for the 2004 academy_awards ceremony . but after 17 years and the introduction of lower priced ready to wear clothes and accessories , the house has not yet broken even insiders calculate the entire investment at as much as 200 million_euros , or 260 million . mr . arnault apparently felt torn , and is said to believe that his treatment of the couturier by underwriting his losses and giving him freedom to pursue other activities , like stage design , has been ''royal . '' mr . arnault is also said to have felt that he was viewed as too much the patron to mr . lacroix . unable to turn mr . lacroix 's creativity into a profit , and under pressure from analysts to drop underperforming investments , mr . arnault hopes to keep mr . lacroix on as designer of the emilio pucci brand within lvmh , and turn the lacroix house over to the falic group , according to executives inside lvmh . leon falic is president of the group he founded with his two brothers , all of lebanese russian origin . by taking over the world duty_free americas chain of duty_free shops in 2001 , the falic group created duty_free americas , which competes directly with lvmh 's duty_free stores , known as dfs , although duty_free americas operates mainly in north and south_america and focuses on fragrances , beauty products and liquor . falic also owns the judith leiber brand of handbags and accessories . it is now up to mr . lacroix to negotiate a financial deal that allows him to continue to design haute_couture and ready to wear clothing and end lacroix 's licensed fragrance deal with interparfums . other noncore_assets shed by lvmh include a stake in the michael kors business , sold to lawrence stroll and silas chou of asprey in 2003 , and the kors fragrance , to est e lauder in the same year . international business correction january 20 , 2005 , thursday an article in business day on jan . 8 about the planned sale of the christian lacroix brand by lvmh moet hennessy_louis_vuitton to the falic group misstated the ownership of the judith leiber brand of handbags and accessories . it is owned by pegasus capital advisors , not by the falic group .

lead in a sign of the growing business links between the two germanys , deutsche_bank announced today that it had completed a joint_venture agreement with a state owned east_german bank , giving it the biggest role of any western bank in east_germany . in a sign of the growing business links between the two germanys , deutsche_bank announced today that it had completed a joint_venture agreement with a state owned east_german bank , giving it the biggest role of any western bank in east_germany . under the agreement , deutsche_bank will be the leading shareholder in a venture with deutsche_kreditbank , a giant east_german commercial_bank . kreditbank was carved out of the state banking system to establish 134 branches in east_germany beginning on sunday , the date that east_german marks will be swapped for west_german ones . the venture is the biggest entry in what will be a fierce battle to attract east_german consumers as a market_economy is adopted , west_german bankers say . on sunday , to attract east_german consumers enriched by the currency swap , many deutsche_bank deutsche_kreditbank branches will open at 7 a.m . broad expansion planned at a news conference today , georg krupp , a deutsche_bank board member , said the frankfurt based bank hopes ultimately to acquire 100 percent of the joint_venture and expand its operations in east_germany to 250 branches . deutsche_bank is west_germany 's largest bank , with 1 , 640 branches in its home market . mr . krupp added that deutsche_bank hoped to obtain , within three years , a_20 percent share of east_germany 's consumer banking market , whose worth is put at 40 billion to 60 billion . until now , most east_germans have kept their savings in the state owned savings bank . ''we hope to attract these customers through better service and better know how , '' mr . krupp said . he added that at first the deutsche_bank deutsche_kreditbank branches would offer the same 3 . 25 percent interest rate for savings_accounts that east_germany 's state owned savings bank offers . mobile branches under the agreement , 122 deutsche_kreditbank branches will become branches of the joint_venture . in the rush to become established in east_germany in time for currency unification , the deutsche_bank joint_venture is setting up 12 branches in mobile units . deutsche_bank is also putting six of its own branches in east_berlin . the deutsche_bank project will be larger than one by its arch rival , dresdner_bank , which has signed a separate joint_venture accord with deutsche_kreditbank . in that agreement , 72 kreditbank offices will become dresdner kreditbank branches , which will also seek to attract consumer deposits and make consumer and business loans . dresdner_bank alone plans to open an 35 additional branches this year , and another 50 by the end of 1991 . commerzbank , west_germany 's third largest bank , has opened 20 permanent branches on its own and has 15 mobile units . in its joint_venture , deutsche_bank is paying 148 . 5 million west_german marks for a 49 percent share , while deutsche_kreditbank will hold 47 percent . the other 4 percent will be held by four east_german institutions a state owned hotel conglomerate , a retailing chain , a chemical manufacturer and a consumer cooperative . initial loss expected mr . krupp said deutsche_bank would at first lose money in the venture because of the huge investment involved . he said his bank had already spent 150 million on training and electronics , and would have to spend at least 300 million more on upgrading branches and building new ones . west_german insurers are also planning large ventures in east_germany . allianz , west_germany 's largest insurer , has made a bid to acquire deutsche versicherung , east_germany 's insurance monopoly . five west_german insurers have teamed up to make a competing offer of 168 million for 51 percent of the east_german insurer . they are colonia , gothaer , nordstern , r v and wurttembergische feuer . the five say they would break up the state monopoly into competing regional companies .

the sports hall doubles as a prayer room and dining hall for male teenagers , at other times for young women , but never the two together . in the kindergarten , female teachers , warned of an impending visit by a man , draw full facial veils before receiving their guest . when the guest arrives , the children offer a chorus in arabic ''as salaam aleikum'' peace be upon you . ''here we can keep ourselves on the path of religion , '' said nasir nathalia , a 15 year old student at the leicester islamic academy . his friend mohammed seedat agrees . ''there is less chance here of going off the track , '' he said . this is the piety that britain 's expanding islamic schools seek to project , casting themselves as typical of the thousands of faith schools , mainly christian , that make up roughly one third of all publicly financed british schools . but the visible differences the way female teenagers wear the full length dress and head covering and the boys wear black robes and skullcaps play into a ferocious debate about the sense of separateness or readiness to integrate britain 's estimated 1.8 million muslims , about 3 percent of the population . and the discussion touches on a much wider theme of ethnic segregation across the british state financed educational system . ''segregation is now so extreme in some schools that there is not much further it can go , '' trevor phillips , the chairman of the commission for racial equality , told a parliamentary panel . ''it does n't help to prepare children in these schools for the real world . '' neither , some believe , does it bridge the gap between a largely secular society and a profound commitment to a single faith . ''if you are going to have islamic schools , the question is whether they are going to embrace western values , '' said patrick sookhdeo , a pakistan born anglican priest who converted from islam and who runs a not for profit institute committed to maintaining christian values . ''i would argue that islamic values are not compatible with western values . '' others disagree just as boldly . ''if you think faith schools are divisive , it would help a great deal to know why is there empirical evidence ? '' said mohamed mukadam , the principal of the leicester islamic academy . students from islamic schools , mr . mukadam said in an interview , were not associated with either the religious and racial riots in northern_england in the early 2000 's or in any of the recent terrorism conspiracies . ''if you want to examine the northern riots , or the terrorism , '' he said , ''i have not come across a single person from faith schools or who went to faith schools . '' it is a debate shot through with fear and resentment after terrorist attacks by muslims and alleged plots in london , leaving the british_government to ponder how it can properly deny state financing to islamic schools that teach the core subjects of the national_curriculum when it provides money for much more numerous schools of christian , jewish or other faiths . only 7 islamic schools receive public financing , compared with 36 jewish schools , and about 7 , 000 christian schools . the parents of just 3 percent of muslim students enroll them in islamic schools , where the education is generally rigorous and there is a code to nurture their islamic identity , shield them from discrimination and provide moral guidance . the bulk of the 140 islamic schools charge tuition . at leicester , for instance , tuition is 2 , 700 a year . ''muslim children in this country tend to live separate lives anyhow , '' said mark halstead , a professor of education at the university of huddersfield in northern_england . ''whether they go to muslim school does not make much difference to their segregation . they are concentrated in the inner cities . they could be attending a state_school that is 90 percent muslim anyway . '' a report by simon burgess , a professor of economics , discovered that , for instance , in the blue_collar tower hamlets district of east_london , where ethnic minorities form 48 percent of the population , nearly half the schools were ''exclusively nonwhite . '' the issue of islamic separateness is magnified by a recent debate about a full face veil that shows only the eyes and is known as the niqab . some non muslims , most notably foreign_secretary jack_straw , have said the veil illustrates that muslims are rejecting british norms others say simply that britons are discriminating against muslims . the debate cuts to the heart of britain 's stated philosophy on multiculturalism , defined 40 years ago by the labor politician roy jenkins when he was home_secretary . in laying out a new immigration_policy , he said immigration should not lead to a ''flattening process of assimilation'' but instead should provide ''equal_opportunity accompanied by cultural_diversity . '' but now , as the country is struggling so publicly with muslim assimilation , some analysts like mr . phillips of the commission for racial equality fear that a premium on cultural separateness has britain ' 'sleepwalking into segregation . '' on another level , the debate over islamic schools here also involves equity in the use of tax money . according to the department of education in london , private schools must meet laborious and detailed criteria to gain access to state financing , and many islamic schools have failed to do so . since 1997 , according to government figures , only 25 ' 'minority faith'' schools have qualified for government financing 15 of them jewish and the rest muslim , sikh , greek orthodox and seventh day adventist schools . islamic schools typically teach the same basic subjects as in other faith or state run schools . all private and public are subject to inspections . but there are differences . while christian schools say 25 percent of their seats are open to non christians , mr . mukadam said there were so few islamic schools that it would be impractical to offer admission to non muslims . in leicester , many students attend koranic recitation and memorization lessons at separate madrasas schools run by mosques without regulation outside normal school hours . still , a survey by the islamic human rights commission last year said that muslims in several categories people who are older , wealthier and more secular , and students in their late teens placed academic success ahead of religious affiliation in choosing a school . according to the most recent government inspection of the leicester islamic academy educational standards in 2002 , most of its teenage students achieved twice the national average grades in the examinations that high_school students take around the age of 16 . but that does not necessarily immunize students from the broader pressures of life as british muslims , even in leicester . this city in the english midlands , once known as a center for manufacturing shoes and textiles , prides itself on diversity . more than one third of the 300 , 000 residents are members of britain 's ethnic minorities , and leicester is expected to become britain 's first city with a nonwhite majority in less than a decade . but it has not been protected from the threat of terrorism in early 2002 , the police rounded up what they called an al_qaeda cell here . the sight of muslims under attack in palestinian areas or iraq , said nasir , the student at the academy here , ' 'makes us want to help , through giving or charity . '' yusuf parekh , a 15 year old classmate , said some people felt the pain and anger particularly because ''their people are being killed back home . '' but is violence justified ? ''only as a last resort , '' he said . but mr . mukadam , who is also chairman of the association of muslim schools , insisted that his school taught loyalty to britain as a land that offered religious and other freedoms . if an islamic school were found to be ''fomenting radicalism , '' he said , ''it is my first duty to say this school should not exist . '' he acknowledged that some students might feel passionately about the plight of fellow muslims elsewhere . ''my job , '' he said , ''is to understand their deep hurt but get them away from the radicals that promote violence . ''

a day after two american civilians and their iraqi translator were killed in a roadside ambush , two iraqi washerwomen working for american_forces were attacked by masked_gunmen and shot to death , police officials said thursday . maj . riyadh kadhem jawad of the iraqi_police said the women , who cleaned and ironed clothes for american_soldiers in the southern city of basra , were driving home wednesday night in a taxi when four gunmen surrounded their car , ordered the taxi_driver out and then shot the women . ''the driver thought the attackers were looters , '' major jawad said . ''he told them to take the car but not hurt the girls . but they opened fire . '' he addied that they ' 'shot five bull 's eyes in each girl . '' the women , liqa falih , 26 , and shayma falih , 29 , were sisters , authorities said . shayma was in the front seat . she was shot dead immediately . liqa was in the back seat and tried to run away . she was shot in the back . both worked for kellogg brown root , a united_states contractor providing laundry service to american personnel in basra . the taxi_driver was spared . the precise nature of the attack has renewed fears that translators and other support staff working for americans are easy targets , especially women . ''the terrorists are looking for us , '' said zenab mohy al deen , a 27 year old army translator in baghdad . ''it 's terrifying . '' just two weeks ago in baghdad another pair of sisters who worked at an army base were shot on their way home . one lived . one died . neighbors said they had been threatened by members of iraq 's former rule . ''when they walked down the street , people whispered , 'we will get them , we will get them , ' '' said fazil massem , a neighbor . last week , a translator for voice of america and his mother in law and 4 year old daughter were killed in baghdad while driving in his car . in january , three other washerwomen , who worked at an army base in western iraq , were followed on their way to work and shot to death by gunmen in a passing car . working with americans , even for those not connected to the occupation government , has become dangerous business . on wednesday , a female translator for an american news outlet found a handwritten_note under her front door . it began with a traditional opening , ''in the name of god , the merciful , the compassionate . '' then it continued this way ''those who deal with the atheists and the infidels on the soil of the homeland deserve but death and destruction . thus , we warn you to stay away from the infidels and the blasphemers , the followers of satan . '' it was signed ''the army of followers . '' the translator left her house . ''we have received several threats , '' said majid al battat , a translator for american_forces in basra . ''we expect to be next . '' many support staff , women as well as men , now carry guns . essra falih , a sister of the two washerwomen killed on wednesday , also worked for the americans cleaning clothes . at least , she did until thursday . ''i am quitting , '' she said . ''i am the next target . '' meanwhile , american officials have begun an intensive investigation into the killing of the two american civilians and their translator , who were shot tuesday on a road near abu gharaq , about 70 miles south of baghdad . american military officials said the three , two of whom were women , were attacked in their car by men wearing police uniforms . they were the first american civilians working for the occupying forces to be killed in iraq . two of the three were women . united_states officials in washington and baghdad on thursday said that despite earlier rumors , none of the dead americans worked for the f.b.i . lt . gen . ricardo s . sanchez , the senior military commander in iraq , said thursday that insurgents posing as police officers could be the manifestation of a new tactic and that ''we are very concerned about it . '' also on thursday , military officials said an american soldier was killed and two were wounded when their convoy was hit by a roadside_bomb near baquba , north of baghdad .

the word that shannon donnelly got from the rental office at stuyvesant town last month when she went there hoping to put her name on the waiting list for a rent_regulated apartment was that the waiting list was closed . management stopped taking applications for regulated apartments a year ago , she was told . ''but they said they did have some market rate apartments , '' said ms . donnelly , a 29 year old sales representative for a financial_services firm . she was interested , and she went back the next day to see some vacant apartments that had been upgraded . the management was showing 10 of them , completely renovated with all new kitchens and baths , new appliances and new lighting_fixtures . she was impressed . so ms . donnelly and her husband , kenneth , 33 , a municipal_bond broker , left their 1 , 650 a month one bedroom apartment at york avenue and 82nd street and moved into a newly_renovated two bedroom apartment on the ninth floor of a stuyvesant town building on 20th street . the view is to the north , toward stuyvesant town 's smaller and slightly younger sister development , peter_cooper village . and the rent is 2 , 750 a month . the prospect of such a rent in an apartment that is now deregulated , and will continue to be rented at market rates , has prompted the metropolitan_life_insurance_company , which built , owns and manages both developments , to undertake a 40 million to 50 million improvement program for the two of them . the program , which will not affect the rents of existing tenants , is to take two to three years to complete . under the state rent law in effect since 1997 , a regulated apartment that after a vacancy qualifies for a new rent of at least 2 , 000 is deregulated and can be leased for a market rent to the next tenant . while the number of apartments rented at market rates is only a trickle so far , management executives expect that in two or three years the preponderance of vacant apartments will be leased at a market rent . there are 11 , 250 apartments within 110 buildings in the two projects . new household_income guidelines for vacancies that are rented out at market rates set the minimum for one bedrooms at 80 , 000 a year . all this inspires mixed feelings among many residents , living in a pleasant oasis of middle_class housing in manhattan . their own rents have been rising lately as a result of capital improvements already made to the buildings . the emphasis in the new upgrading program will initially be on improving the grounds and playgrounds and providing a grander entrance to peter_cooper village , where apartments tend to be larger than those in stuyvesant town and the turnover rate is slower . citing both the importance of the projects to metlife shareholders as a real_estate investment and their long term value as rental_housing to tenants and the community , james b . digney , senior vice_president in charge of real_estate investments for metlife , said , ''we have decided to renew them for 50 years . '' mr . digney also said that metlife would spend an average of 30 , 000 to 40 , 000 an apartment to upgrade vacant units that become available for rerental . the greatest investment is expected to go into long occupied units that can be rerented for at least 2 , 000 . last year , only 46 newly vacated apartments in the two developments 10 percent of the total vacancy leases were either rented at market rates or put in the rehabilitation pipeline for rerental as a free_market units . but with new tenants paying market rate rents already arriving and the household_income needed to rent apartments on the rise , tenant spokesmen have begun to wonder whether basic change in the character of the developments is in prospect . what worries assemblyman steven sanders , who represents the 63rd assembly district , which embraces the developments , is not so much the arrival of higher income tenants as what he feels is a change in the attitude of metlife as a landlord . mr . sanders 's parents were living in stuyvesant town when he was born . he has lived in several apartments there and now lives in peter_cooper village . he headed the stuyvesant town peter_cooper village tenants association in the 1970 's . in the last five years there has been a big turnover in management , '' mr . sanders said . ''the service department has been reduced , and there has been a diminution in access to maintenance and service . to me it seems that metlife has become entirely preoccupied by the bottom line that its basic mission has changed . '' state senator roy m . goodman , a longtime legislative advocate of the tenant cause at stuyvesant town and elsewhere , also spoke of a basic mission for metlife at the projects , defining it as ' 'serving middle_income families . '' both developments were built in the post world_war_ii era with the help of 25 year tax abatements , and returning veterans with young families were among the principal beneficiaries . although there is no current agreed definition of what constitutes middle_income , mr . sanders said he considered households earning 35 , 000 to 100 , 000 a year in the city , depending on family size , to be in the middle_income bracket . some of the recent tenants in their 20 's and 30 's appear to have total household_income well above 100 , 000 . the income guidelines introduced last fall require minimums of 80 , 000 a year for a one bedroom and 105 , 000 for a two bedroom at stuyvesant town , and 100 , 000 for a one bedroom and 125 , 000 for a two bedroom at peter_cooper village . ''i consider metlife to be one of the best landlords i know of , '' senator goodman said , ''but lately with the demand for more revenue they seem to have changed their emphasis . '' the management style used to be almost avuncular , he said , but now there seems to be more of a business approach . the two elected officials support a lawsuit brought by the tenants association over rent increases sought by metlife for rewiring at peter_cooper village , which was completed late last year . the tenants claim metlife improperly failed to divulge its business arrangements with the rcn corporation of princeton , n.j. , a communications company . under a contract with metlife , rcn installed equipment during the rewiring process that allows it to offer cable , internet and phone service to tenants . the tenant group says that these arrangements should moderate or even eliminate the rent increases that metlife is seeking . the application is pending . an earlier lawsuit challenging an application for a rent increase for rewiring at stuyvesant town ended in a settlement . metlife was awarded the major capital improvement allowance it sought , but tenants were given the option of declining air_conditioning , and if they did so , they did not have to pay a rent increase for their apartment 's allocated share of the rewiring cost . stuyvesant town and peter_cooper village house an estimated 25 , 000 to 30 , 000 people in 11 , 250 apartments on 80 acres of land from first avenue to the east_river between 14th_street and 23rd_street . stuyvesant town , which runs from 14th_street to 20th street , has 89 buildings with 8 , 757 apartments . construction started in 1945 , and by the time occupancy was under way in 1947 , metlife had acquired the land for peter_cooper village , from 20th street to 23rd_street . peter_cooper has 2 , 493 apartments in 21 buildings , and it had a higher initial rent structure for its larger apartments . together the two developments are among the crown_jewels of large scale middle_income rental projects produced in the city by major insurance_companies during the frenetic era of housing production just after world_war_ii . they are the only ones left in metlife 's real_estate portfolio , but there are no plans for a sale , mr . digney said . parkchester in the bronx , an earlier model for stuyvesant town , was sold to the real_estate investor harry b . helmsley in 1968 and converted to condominiums . the master plan for the new improvement program is the work of paul rosen and anthony johnson of rosen johnson architects of manhattan . ''it was very important to metlife that the aesthetics of stuyvesant town and peter_cooper village should be respected , and not replaced with a style du jour , '' mr . rosen said . work will begin in the spring with the replacement of the guardhouse like entrance to peter_cooper village at 22nd street with a new security station set within a courtyard with benches and plantings . there will be improved lighting , walkways , signs and landscaping on the grounds of the two projects . a major emphasis will be placed on upgrading the playgrounds . a roadway will be created at the center of peter_cooper village , with curbed and paved walkways for pedestrians , separating pedestrian and vehicular_traffic and creating a more orderly and safer internal environment , mr . rosen said . all 21 lobbies will get new entrances in the form of 200 square_foot glass pavilions , brightly lighted at night , as portals to the existing entrances . at both developments there will be new guard booths to enhance the security system . the main oval at stuyvesant town will get a facelift . ''we will reduce the number of paths that cross the space , upgrade the finishes around the center fountain and put in a new water jet system'' mr . rosen said . later , all the elevators and building entrances at peter_cooper village will be replaced . even without the arrival of deregulated apartments , the rising number of young families at stuyvesant town has become apparent in recent years . this has spurred the need to upgrade the playgrounds . ''we have more children now just as in the 50 's , '' mr . digney said . he declined to attribute the improvement program directly to metlife 's new ability to achieve market rents for most and perhaps eventually for all of its vacancies . instead , he cited the company 's duty to shareholders to improve the value of the developments as a real_estate investment , as well as the significance of the buildings to tenants and the wider community as well . ''that was part of our decision to make a further investment , '' he said . with the apartment rehabilitation program just getting under way last year , 38 of the 350 vacancies at stuyvesant town were eligible for rents over 2 , 000 , metlife said . at peter_cooper village , eight out of 50 vacant apartments became available for deregulation . this year the expectation is that at least half of all new vacancies will be upgraded and put on the market for more than 2 , 000 . the rest will be rented out , perhaps with moderate improvements , at the applicable regulated rent . some occupied apartments may be close to the 2 , 000 threshold already , since more recently rented apartments tend to turn over faster than long occupied apartments . to deregulate stuyvesant town completely under current law will probably take two decades or more , housing specialists say , and even then , in view of succession rights from one generation in a family to the next , deregulation may not be complete . at stuyvesant town deregulated apartments are renting in a range of 2 , 100 to 2 , 500 a month for one bedrooms and 2 , 600 to 3 , 200 a month for two bedrooms , the management says . at peter_cooper the comparable rents are 2 , 800 to 3 , 200 for one bedrooms and 3 , 600 to 4 , 200 for two bedrooms . to pay 2 , 500 a month in rent while holding housing costs to 30 percent of pretax income , a household would need annual earnings of 100 , 000 . although turnover is slower in peter_cooper village , long term stuyvesant town tenants are also standing pat , often in large apartments . more than 7 , 000 stuyvesant town apartments have only one or two bedrooms . but 453 have three bedrooms , one has four bedrooms and 38 have five . at peter_cooper village , only 21 apartments have as many as three bedrooms , but all have sizable living rooms . ''we just never felt any need to move , '' said david mayer , 88 , a world_war_ii veteran who arrived in stuyvesant town in 1949 . he and his wife raised two daughters there . now a widower and retired after a career in marketing and advertising , he lives in a 10th floor three bedroom apartment at a rent of 1 , 200 a month . he says he never saw any reason to leave . ''the people are congenial , and the place is filled with trees , '' he said . ''i was always completely satisfied , and so was my wife . '' according to john t . lawrence , executive vice_president of bellmarc_realty , who lived in stuyvesant town from 1992 to 1998 , the closer vacant apartments are to first avenue , 14th_street or 23rd_street , the easier they will be to rent for more than 2 , 000 . but transportation is not so good farther from those locations , he said . ''i would expect that there will be no problem in their getting close to 3 , 000 for their larger apartments , but their smaller one bedrooms may have a problem renting over 2 , 000 , '' mr . lawrence said . he also said the management was cracking down on illegal subletting , a step that would improve its ability to capture more apartments for vacancy rerental . ''previously , metlife had been lenient about subletting , and many tenants were subletting their units without ownership consent and actually moving out of the city , '' mr . lawrence said . these tenants sometimes made a profit of 1 , 000 a month on their units , he said . another broker , andrew heiberger , president of citihabitats , a brokerage agency , said he doubted that metlife would achieve the rents that doorman buildings get in the area . ''but they will get 2 , 000 even for unrenovated one bedrooms , '' he said . figures released by the state division of housing and community renewal suggest that the rent law governing deregulation of stabilized apartments is having a modest impact , but it is most pronounced in manhattan . year end figures for 1999 , the latest available , showed there were 320 , 900 rent_stabilized_apartments in manhattan in december 1999 , down by 6 , 200 apartments over three years , on the basis of registrations . in the same period 5 , 000 apartments came into the system , mostly as a result of new multifamily rental construction , which becomes rent_stabilized if the builder takes advantage of the city 's section 421a tax abatement program . therefore , the indication is that 11 , 200 older manhattan apartments actually left the rent_stabilization system . the departures may have had any of a number of causes , deregulation after vacancy among them . although most new vacancies at stuyvesant town and peter_cooper village may be eligible for a rent over 2 , 000 in about two years , the indication based on current rents is that metlife will have to invest heavily to bring the legal vacancy rent to that level . figures supplied to the new york city finance department for tax assessment purposes , obtained from real_estate professionals , indicate that the average rent for an occupied apartment in the two developments last year was 947 . this average is obtained by dividing the total number of apartments , 11 , 250 , into gross rental income . under the law , a_20 percent increase is allowed upon vacancy , and there is a bonus for apartments that have had no vacancy increase in eight years . the bonus is 0.6 percent a year , or 6 percent for 10 years , calculated on the basis of the last regulated rent . with the bonus , an 850 apartment that was occupied for 10 years would get a 26 percent vacancy allowance , bringing its total vacancy rent to 1 , 071 . if the owner then spent 40 , 000 on the apartment , the legal vacancy rent would be 2 , 071 the owner is allowed to raise the monthly rent by one fortieth of the cost of improving a vacant apartment , or 500 more in rent for every 20 , 000 spent . once the legal rent reaches 2 , 000 , the actual rent can be whatever the market will bear . whether the owner is prepared to spend heavily on a vacant apartment depends on its projected market value . however , a combination of regular rent guideline increases and state authorized increases for major capital improvements could cause a quick step march to a higher average rent for occupied apartments in coming years . as for the diminishing number of rent_regulated vacancies , donna d . tacchi , the director of resident services and community affairs , said that applicants would continue to be notified from the waiting list and given two opportunities to accept a vacancy . after two rejections their names are dropped from the list . the current wait for notification is two to three years . for prospective_tenants who are able and willing to pay a market rent for a fully rehabilitated apartment , renovated units are available within roughly a month . ''we have about 10 apartments available right now at market rents , '' ms . tacchi said . among the recent takers were charlotte davidson and her husband , alex chachkes , both of them 31 year old lawyers , who took a two year lease on a two bedroom apartment off first avenue and 16th street in stuyvesant town for 2 , 850 a month and moved in two weeks ago . ms . davidson said they had been living in the development since they were married in 1999 because her parents had had the foresight to put them on the waiting list . ''i actually was born in stuyvesant town , and i lived here till i was 8 , '' ms . davidson said . ''it was a great place to be a kid , because of the playgrounds and the squirrels and the grass . i made a lot of friends . '' ms . davidson is due to have her first child , a boy , within a week . ''i 'm hoping my son will have the same feeling growing up here as i did , '' she said .

the russian oil businessman mikhail b . khodorkovsky transferred a majority stake in his investment company , group menatep , which holds 50 percent of the yukos oil company , to a fellow shareholder , leonid nevzlin , left . mr . nevzlin , who lives in self imposed exile in israel , increases his stake in menatep to 67 . 5 percent from 8 percent as a result of the deal . mr . nevzlin fled to israel last year after the russian government issued arrest_warrants for him and other business associates of mr . khodorkovsky , who is facing charges of tax_evasion , fraud and embezzlement . mr . khodorkovsky said he transferred the stake after yukos 's major asset , yuganskneftegas , was sold at an auction last month . erin e . arvedlund ( nyt )