September 8, 1992

Surprising new findings from a large study in Finland show that high levels of iron are a strong risk factor for heart attacks. The study, which is being reported today in a leading scientific journal, provides the first empirical evidence for a theory advanced 11 years ago that high amounts of iron promote heart attacks and low levels protect against them.

NEW YORK CITY FAILING TO HELP TROUBLED CHILDREN

Jerusalem's most distinctive landmark, the gold-colored Dome of the Rock, is undergoing an expensive facelift, and, as with most things in this city, the work involves religion, politics and occasional dispute. The problem with the 1,300-year-old shrine is that, for all its splendor, it leaks -- and rather badly at that, says Issam Awad, an architect in charge of the renovation project for the Waqf, the committee responsible for Islamic holy places here.

he Rev. Scott Allen was, in every particular, the ideal Baptist. He was a minister with a lovely family, and he had dedicated his life to the church. His father and grandfather were ministers; his father, the Rev. Jimmie Allen, was president of the 17-million-member Southern Baptist Convention until 1979.

Soldiers of the black South African homeland called Ciskei rained machine-gun fire today into a fleeing throng of African National Congress supporters who marched on the enclave vowing to topple its military ruler. The three-minute volley left at least 24 black marchers dead and scores more wounded or trampled in the panic. It also dashed any hope of a rapid reconciliation between blacks and whites on South Africa's political future, because while South Africa insists Ciskei is an independent country beyond its control, almost everyone else here and abroad regards it as a province, if not a puppet, of South Africa. A.N.C. Blames de Klerk "We are blaming de Klerk for this, and we do it without hesitation," said Cyril Ramaphosa, secretary general of the African National Congress, one of several black leaders who dived to the ground alongside journalists and mediators to avoid the intense gunfire. "The Ciskei is the creation of the apartheid regime and they are responsible for the atrocities committed in its name."