March 3, 1992

A Silicon Valley company has hired the Russian scientist who created the supercomputers used by the Soviet space program and by the Soviet military to design nuclear weapons. The contract is one of the first examples of an American business tapping the wealth of scientific talent that until recently was dedicated to the Soviet Union's vast military program.

The Bush Administration ruled today that Honda owed millions of dollars in tariffs because Civic autos imported from Canada did not contain enough North American parts to qualify for duty-free treatment. The move is likely to intensify the nation's trade tensions with both Canada and Japan. The United States Customs Service did not disclose the amount of money owed or the number of cars involved. But Honda said the United States was trying to collect $16.5 million in duties on 90,000 vehicles imported into the United States from Jan. 1, 1989, through March 31, 1990.

The Federal Government sued a leading New York law firm and its former managing partner for $275 million today and moved to freeze their assets for their role in representing Charles H. Keating Jr., the convicted savings and loan executive. The lawsuit is the largest ever to be brought by the Government against an adviser to a failed saving institution. It is the first time the authorities, who are stepping up their prosecution of lawyers and accountants linked to the savings and loan scandal, have tried to freeze a firm's assets before going to trial.

WORK-RELATED injuries, long the plague of those who do heavy manual labor, have become a scourge among white-collar workers, too. Experts say hundreds of thousands of office workers are being disabled each year in an epidemic of motion-related damage to the hands and arms that is costing the nation many billions of dollars annually. The problem is expected to worsen in the current recession as businesses demand greater output from fewer employees and workers ignore symptoms for fear of losing their jobs.

Anyone hoping to succeed in New York's crowded hotel market had better find a way to stand out. The 26-story Ramada Renaissance Hotel that opens today in Times Square offers white-coated butlers on most floors, ready to serve breakfast in bed, secure theater tickets or even unpack guests' suitcases. "We're betting that by introducing an Asian level of service to North America, we can keep guests coming back," said Allan C. Federer, the hotel's general manager.

The Rexene Corporation said yesterday that its chairman and chief executive, William J. Gilliam, whose spending habits have been criticized as lavish, had resigned. Rexene, a Dallas-based petrochemical company that has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection since October, said Mr. Gilliam was leaving to focus on other investments.

An international assembly representing more than 120 governments has agreed on a treaty that would allocate global radio frequencies for fleets of low-orbiting satellites serving portable-telephone and message services, the head of the American delegation said today. A draft of the agreement was worked out today at a gathering of the World Administrative Radio Conference in Torremolinos, Spain. Jan W. Baran, the United States Ambassador to the meeting, said he expected the agreement to be signed on Tuesday. The agreement marks a big victory for Motorola Inc.'s ambitious Iridium project, a proposal to launch a fleet of 77 small satellites that would each circle the earth.

European nations said they would offer money to help poor countries protect the environment. They urged Washington to do the same. Page A11.

NEW YORK CITY TESTIFYING AGAINST GOTTI For several years, Salvatore Gravano was John Gotti's closest, most trusted aide, his right hand man. But yesterday he took the witness stand to testify against him, giving an inside account of murderous activities in the Gambino crime family. With tension crackling across the crowded courtroom, Mr. Gotti sat at the defense table some 20 feet away, a tight smile on his face, as Mr. Gravano glanced at him quickly and began testifying publicly for the first time. A1.

Companies Kaye, Scholer and its former managing partner were sued by the U.S. for their role in representing Charles Keating. The suit is the largest ever brought against an adviser to a failed saving institution by the Government, which also moved to freeze the New York law firm's assets. [ Page A1. ] Until his affiliation with Keating and Lincoln Savings, Peter M. Fishbein led a very charmed legal career as head of Kaye, Scholer. [ D8. ] Sun Microsystems has hired the Russian scientist who created the supercomputers used by the Soviet space program and by its military to design nuclear weapons. [ A1. ]

Salvatore Gravano, the man who says he was John Gotti's underboss, took the witness stand against him yesterday to paint a violent portrait of loan-sharking, armed robberies and murders inside the Gambino crime family. As Mr. Gotti sat at the defense table 20 feet away with a tight smile on his face, Mr. Gravano told of his early days as a Brooklyn mobster, admitted to participating in 19 murders and described the plot to kill Paul Castellano, the Gambino boss Mr. Gotti is alleged to have succeeded.

Americans enter the busiest stretch of the primary season in a frustrated mood, dissatisfied with President Bush but overwhelmingly convinced that none of the candidates for President really understand their lives, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. Mr. Bush's approval rating stands at 40 percent, a new low for him in the Times/CBS News poll, although it was unchanged from his reading last month when the poll's margin of sampling error is taken into account.