January 23, 1992

At the MCI Communications Corporation, the nation's second-largest long-distance carrier, they figure that this year is 8 A.D., or eight years after the formal divestiture of A.T.& T. The dark time before that is known as B.C. -- before competition. But figured another way, this year is actually 10 A.D., 10 years after the initial agreement to dismantle the biggest company on earth.

Financial industry executives and officials, alarmed about the Japanese stock markets entering its its third year of a deep slump, are contemplating emergency measures that could reverse several years of liberalization and make it harder for foreign brokers to do business in Japan. The measures under discussion range from introducing new restrictions on trading in stock index futures -- the principal source of profits for many foreign brokers in Japan -- to forming a huge fund with contributions from banks and securities houses to inflate share prices with concerted buying, a method last attempted tried here in the 1960's.

The term water closet may sound like a quaint euphemism, but over the years it has also come to be a pretty fair description of the typical British bathroom. As often as not, it is a cramped, airless cubicle, a kind of architectural afterthought crouched at the end of a creaky hallway or hidden beneath the stairs of a 19th-century terrace house. But in the last few years, the British bathroom has begun to come into its own. Not only are new houses equipped with larger and more luxurious bathrooms, but there is a growing trend to remodel and update old bathrooms, often using florid antique or reproduction fixtures that evoke the look and feel of Victorian manor houses.

In a report pointing to economic recovery, Commerce Department figures showed today that builders broke ground for new homes in December at the fastest pace in more than a year and that permits for future construction did even better. Housing starts ran at an annual rate of 1,103,000 last month, or 2.6 percent above the November rate, with all regions but the West posting gains. Permits rose 5.8 percent, to 1,051,000.

Seven children, whose families had been previously identified by New York City's child protection system as abusive or neglectful, died in 1990 after they were repeatedly beaten over a period of time, a city report has found. The report, by a panel of experts who examined confidential city records, also disclosed that at least three children were taken from their parents only to die at the hands of their foster mothers.