December 11, 1991

Renewed Talks, Old Script Arab and Israeli negotiators met for a second round of Mideast talks, with some substantive exchanges and some procedural wrangling. Page A3. U.S. Studying Iraq Options The Bush Administration is reviewing how the United States might react militarily to a coup by senior Iraqi generals, officials said. Page A8. Help for The Daily News Unions at The Daily News said they would serve as a buyer of last resort if that is the only way to save the troubled newspaper. Page B3. Proposal to Cut Aid to Poor The Governor of California has proposed sweeping changes in the state's welfare policies. Page A25. The Doctor Show Many doctors, helped by public relations firms, are making themselves visible on television and in the press. It's good for business. Page C1. Berenice Abbott Dies at 93 A pioneer of modern photography, she was best known for capturing New York City's energy and spirit in a time of transformation. Page D25.

A mild, windless morning, lighted by bright sun. Everyone agreed it was a perfect day for poisoning rats in Central Park. At 8 A.M., about 80 Parks Department and Central Park Conservancy employees gathered in the building known as the Swedish Cottage on the west side of the park. There they received their marching orders for the first day of the first parkwide rat extermination blitz ever.

As President Mikhail S. Gorbachev's waning authority headed for a critical and perhaps final test in the Russian Parliament on Thursday, he and President Boris N. Yeltsin of Russia appeared today to be vying for the support of the Soviet military, ultimately the key to any power struggle. As they did, the Parliaments of Ukraine and Byelorussia today firmly rebuffed Mr. Gorbachev's efforts to keep the Soviet Union alive by ratifying the treaty that their leaders signed with Mr. Yeltsin on Sunday to create a commonwealth of former Soviet republics.

"WE'RE on the phone 40 hours a week for him; we mail out videos, press kits, action photos; we give him an angle, a special hook," exults Lilly Lipton, a public relations consultant in Studio City, Calif. "He is a celebrity. He is!" Is her client an actor? A rock star? Maybe a rising politician? No. He is Dr. Ian R. Brown, a surgeon. Thanks to Ms. Lipton's aggressive promotion, Dr. Brown says, he has appeared on dozens of television programs from the news to "Entertainment Tonight" to "Geraldo." As a result, his cosmetic surgery practice is thriving.

Robert M. Gates warned that the fragmenting Soviet Union faces its most severe instability in more than 70 years. Page A18.