March 9, 1992

The Democratic field will narrow to three on Monday with the withdrawal of Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, signaling a new intensity of the Presidential race as it moves through the battlegrounds of the South and on to the industrial Midwest. Mr. Harkin, who campaigned as a "real Democrat" and a tough voice for traditional liberalism, told supporters today that he intended to withdraw, said senior Democrats who spoke on condition that they not be identified. The decision will trigger a scramble for Mr. Harkin's backing among the ranks of organized labor. And it is emblematic of the grim winnowing now under way in the Democratic field, coming only three days after the withdrawal of Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska.

For the first time since the cable industry began its rapid growth more than a decade ago, the broadcast networks have been able to regain a piece of the audience they lost. While it is too soon to declare that broadcasting has finally bottomed out, many network executives are hopeful that the latest ratings are a sign that the networks may not irresistibly lose viewers year after year to cable channels.

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR DINKINS ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL Looking under the weather, Mayor Dinkins checked into the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center early with an apparent touch of the flu, and his personal physician later said he was resting comfortably and would be kept overnight as a precaution. The 64-year-old Mayor had been feeling ill for several days, his aides said. His doctor said that Mr. Dinkins had had a flu shot several months ago but may not have been protected against this particular strain. B3. A WEEKEND OF PRAYERS FOR THE REBBE Lubavitch Hasidim sang Hebrew prayers of supplication without pause over the weekend as their leader, known as the Rebbe, stayed in his private quarters in Brooklyn recuperating from a stroke he suffered one week ago. Lubavitch leaders confirmed that the stroke was more serious than earlier reported. B2. A DAY FOR A PERFECT SOUND BITE Three candidates for the United States Senate competed to find the perfect backdrop for news conferences. Senator D'Amato stood in front of a midtown Manhattan unemployment office that was closed for the day. One of his Democratic challengers, Elizabeth Holtzman, held her news conference outside a Federal office building in lower Manhattan that was also closed for the weekend. Another opponent, the Rev. Al Sharpton, met with Cardinal O'Connor at St. Patrick's Cathedral. B3. WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE WALKWAY OPENS The walkway on the Williamsburg Bridge reopened for the first time since it was closed for repairs last summer, and a 1954 Schwinn Black Phantom was the first across its new wooden planks. The opening is also a small triumph for three groups -- frequently at odds -- in Williamsburg. The groups -- Hispanic residents, a Hasidic community and a newer population of young artists -- often find themselves in disputes over housing, police protection and race. Williamsburg Bridge Journal, B3. Anti-welfare crusade from 1962 has become a reality today. Metro Matters, B2. REGION THE EMPIRE BUILT ON ILLUSION In a burst of real-estate speculation in the heady 1980's, Jonathan Googel, Benjamin Sisti and Frank Shuch dazzled Connecticut with their wealth, their flamboyance and their deals. The dealing stopped in September 1990, when banks forced their Colonial Realty Company into bankruptcy. The company's demise proved to be not the end of an economic era, but the end of an illusion. Creditors and lawyers representing investors say Colonial was not merely one of the decade's largest investment debacles, but one of its largest frauds. A1. RICH SCHOOLS, POOR SCHOOLS Many communities in Connecticut lack the tax that their richer neighbors have to support public schools. State education leaders wrung their hands over the disparities for years, but little changed. Now, prompted by fiscal necessity rather than educational philosophy, Governor Weicker Jr. has proposed a budget that would begin leveling that system, provoking an intense debate over education financing. B5. LOOKING FOR A MAYOR -- OR NOT The search by the eight members of the City Council of Jersey City for someone to serve as mayor until a special election in November appears to have run out of time, but appearances can be deceiving where politics is concerned. After the mayor's office became vacant Feb. 7 following Mayor McCann's conviction on Federal fraud charges, the Council had 30 days to name an interim mayor. Today is the deadline, and while the Council has a meeting tonight, the agenda makes no mention of filling the mayor's seat. B5. A CROP OF OUTRAGE IN NEW JERSEY Farmers in New Jersey are objecting to the state's efforts to manage growth. New Jersey's pioneering state land-use plan, which is intended to direct growth to already-developed areas, has won over nearly all of the state's fractious business groups except the farm community. As now written, the plan frowns on any development in farm-designated areas that is not directly related to agriculture. Farmers insist the future of farming in the Garden State is at stake. B5. The Traffic Map B8 Chronicle B8

Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, a leader of the revolt that created the state of Israel and later the country's only leader to sign a peace treaty with an Arab neighbor, died early today in a Tel Aviv hospital. Mr. Begin, who was 78 years old and in rapidly deteriorating health, had been taken to Ichilov Hospital a week ago after suffering a heart attack.

As the Italian yacht Il Moro di Venezia competed in an America's Cup trial race last month, an odd-looking object floated into view. It was a buoy about 4 feet square, with a beacon suspended in the middle of four floats. An unsuspecting boater might have seen it as an object from outer space. But the Italians knew better. "I could see that it wasn't a normal lobster pot," said Paul Cayard, the skipper of Il Moro di Venezia. "It went by about 10 feet to leeward of us. I pointed it out to the race umpires, who picked it up and took it into shore."

International Japan's longest postwar economic boom appears over, with severe declines in production, capital investment, consumer spending and corporate profits. [ Page A1. ]

The favorite fallback Presidential candidate of many Democrats is managing the most partisan tax bill in years, and the Republicans aren't complaining about it. Senator Lloyd Bentsen is trying to put the President between an election year rock and a hard place. If Mr. Bush signs a bill like Mr. Bentsen's, he will be approving a tax increase for the well-to-do. If he vetoes it, the President will be rejecting a $300-a-child tax credit for middle-class parents, wider access to health insurance and easier conditions on Individual Retirement Accounts and college loans. The White House is threatening a veto, but it does so without the bitter scorn it heaped on a similar tax bill the House passed after angry debate.

At the First Presbyterian Church, a squat white frame structure built by prosperous whalers in the 1840's, hungry people began lining up along a dark staircase even before a volunteer unlocked the door to a small room where the emergency food was stored. The shelves were almost bare. Thomas Haskins was one of the first on line. Thirty-five years ago in South Carolina, he boarded a bus of migrant farm workers to pick potatoes on Long Island, and stayed. Now he earns $7.50 an hour at a riding stable, in season, and goes hungry in the winter as he struggles to survive on an unemployment check of $166 every two weeks.

A series of unexpectedly bleak indicators in recent weeks is signaling the end of Japan's longest postwar economic boom, causing business leaders and politicians to plead for action to avoid a severe recession. A survey by the Bank of Japan released on Friday showed that business confidence was at its lowest in nearly four and a half years. Based on the Government's early estimates, economists are projecting that industrial production will decline 4 percent in the first three months of this year, the steepest drop since the recession of 1975. Capital investment by manufacturers in the fiscal year beginning April 1 is projected to tumble nearly 11 percent, the worst decline since 1977.

Lu Jinghua moved excitedly among the garment workers sitting awkwardly in undersized chairs at Public School 105 in Brooklyn, passing out leaflets and preaching worker solidarity. "The union is for the benefit of the workers," Ms. Lu told them in Chinese, as she circled the classroom decorated with alphabet letters and paper snowflakes. "It will fight for benefits for you. Unionize!"

So many companies have been rejuvenated by the arrival of a new chief executive drawn from the management of the General Electric Company that many investors feel as if they have hit a jackpot when their companies announce such recruiting coups. Companies that hire G.E. executives usually get managers who have experience running businesses that would be among the nation's largest companies if they were independent. Most have also been through G.E.'s widely admired management training courses and have absorbed G.E.'s global perspective.

When the Conservatives led by Margaret Thatcher won a landslide victory five years ago, Britain was booming, and Britons believed that their economy, which had long suffered from anemic growth, high inflation and militant unions, had been transformed. Now, with Britain slogging through what is by some measures its longest recession since World War II, the so-called Thatcher miracle is looking a lot less miraculous.