November 23, 1990

The Bush Administration has drafted an ambitious five-year plan for expanding highway construction, broadening the network of major national roads, providing incentives to reduce congestion and allowing states to charge tolls on more highways. Proposed legislation that would provide at least $85 billion in Federal highway aid to the states from 1992 to 1996 has been written at the Transportation Department, where senior officials call it their main legislative effort for the coming year.

Argentina's often troubled privatization program took another big step forward on Wednesday with the transfer of control of the national airline, Aerolineas Argentinas, to a group led by Iberia, the Spanish carrier. The Argentine Government is selling 85 percent of the slightly profitable 40-year-old airline to the Iberia-led group for $2.01 billion worth of Argentine foreign debt paper and $260 million in cash. The Government will retain 5 percent of the airline, along with veto power over board decisions. The remaining 10 percent will be transferred to employees.

After nearly two years and more than $10 million in renovation costs, New York City is still working to convert a scandal-plagued former welfare hotel on 42d Street into a model residence for homeless single people. City officials, community leaders and relief workers say that if all goes according to plan, next year the first of 300 homeless men and women could move into the building, the former Holland Hotel near Ninth Avenue, which is being renovated as a single-room-occupancy residence.

Second-Guessing on Milken Michael Milken's lawyers could not have anticipated the sentence he received: it is without precedent in the court hearing his case. Page D1.1 New Virus with AIDS Link Scientists have discovered a retrovirus that is similiar to the AIDS virus and that may by linked to deseases of the immune system. Page A29.

Raul Gardini, one of Italy's industrial titans, unexpectedly resigned today as chairman of Ferruzzi Finanziaria S.p.A., the country's second-largest private company. Mr. Gardini said he would leave the business world for "ideological reasons." The resignation by Mr. Gardini is likely to send strong ripples across Italy, both for its impact on the enormous industrial conglomerate and for the message he clearly wanted to send -- that he believes it is almost impossible to conduct business in Italy without excessive Government and political interference.