November 28, 1990

With the United Nations Security Council due to approve a resolution later this week authorizing the use of military force against Iraq any time after Jan. 15, Senate Democrats urged the Bush Administration today to delay taking military action and give economic sanctions more time to work. As the Senate Armed Services Committee opened hearings on the Persian Gulf crisis, Senator Sam Nunn, the chairman of the panel, once again questioned the need for rushing into combat with Iraq. Senator Nunn's caution was generally echoed by the nine other Democrats at the hearing.

John Major was selected as the next Prime Minister of Britain tonight after his two rivals in the Conservative Party leadership contest withdrew and conceded that he could best unite their divided ranks before the next elections. On Wednesday morning, when Queen Elizabeth II asks the 47-year-old Mr. Major to form a new government, he will become the youngest Prime Minister of this century and the first leader of a major European power with no memory of World War II.

For the first time since the Great Depression, apartment rents are dropping in much of New York City. Real-estate professionals say rents have dropped at least 5 percent to 10 percent -- and in some cases as much as 20 percent and more -- in a variety of city neighborhoods during the last three years.

Behind Telescope's Flaw A Federal panel said management problems had led to a failure to detect a serious defect in the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope. Page B7. Another Ruling for North Rebuffing the Iran-contra prosecutor, an appeals court let stand the ruling that set aside Oliver L. North's felony conviction. Page A17. Looking Inward at Howard Howard University, the nation's most influential black university, has begun a painful self-examination. Education, page B9. Fines in Locker-Room Case The National Football League fined the New England Patriots and three players a total of $72,500 for humiliating a female reporter. Page B11.

"ONCE, when I was mad at my brothers, I mixed lard with peanut butter, raw egg and sugar, spread it on white bread and gave it to them," said Benita Rodney, a 38-year-old private secretary who lives in Washington. "And don't you know, they ate it." James Rodney, one of her older brothers who sampled her spite sandwiches, recalled that as a child, he and his siblings would make pork and beans or syrup sandwiches when there was no luncheon meat or a traditional spread like peanut butter or jelly available.