February 29, 1992

Asian-Americans, who make up the fastest-growing minority in the nation, face widespread discrimination in the workplace and are often victims of racially motivated harassment and violence, the United States Commission on Civil Rights said in a report made public yesterday. The commission concluded that Asian-Americans, who doubled in number over the last decade to about 7.3 million people, are hobbled by less blatant but more pervasive barriers of language and culture. And, the commission concluded, immigrants who speak little or no English are frequently denied equal access to a decent education and the voting booth and are treated unfairly by the police and the courts.

Every morning and night, Jeff S. swallows a white, oval-shaped capsule that could make him ill with nausea and diarrhea or, worse, cause nerve damage in his hands and feet. But the drug, never before tested in humans, could also stop the virus that causes AIDS from reproducing in his body. To Jeff S., who is gay and who tested positive for H.I.V. five years ago, the trade-off of taking part in a drug trial -- the risk of the unknown for the possibility of an effective treatment -- is well worth it.

In a switch of campaign personas, Gov. Bill Clinton has looked grumpy and uncertain, and Senator Bob Kerrey has been having fun. Page 9.

The Security Council clashed again with President Saddam Hussein today over Iraq's continuing refusal to go along with plans for eliminating Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles under the terms the Council set last year for ending the Persian Gulf war. The Council issued another strongly worded statement condemning Iraq's failure to cooperate with the special commission set up by the United Nations to oversee the destruction of the Baghdad Government's most dangerous weapons. The statement asks Iraq to send a delegation to New York to explain its position "without further delay." Council Demands Iraqi Reply The statement warns Iraq again of "the serious consequences" of its failure to obey the Council's orders. It tells Iraq to "communicate directly to the Council without further delay an authoritative and unconditional acknowledgement of its agreement to accept and implement" those orders.

When they take up tax legislation next week, Senate Democrats will try to aim their version of a "middle class" tax break more narrowly than the House did, with a program of $300 tax credits for children that will be denied to families with incomes over $70,000 and to people too poor to pay income taxes. The other big difference from the plan voted Thursday in the House is that the Senate Democrats want to make their credits permanent. The cornerstone of the House Democrats' bill is a temporary, two-year program of tax credits of up to $400 for a working couple.