November 7, 1992

"Welcome to the Islamic Republic of Iran," a sign says at the small, crowded arrival hall of this oil-exporting island in the Persian Gulf. Outside under a bright sun, stretching for miles into the turquoise waters of the gulf, dozens of tankers line up to load crude oil. On Kharg, occupied by the Iranian Army and only a skeleton crew of oil technicians during much of the Iran-Iraq war, hundreds of Iranian and foreign workers are building and repairing storage tanks and piers.

Jobless Rate Falls Again The nation's unemployment rate dropped by a tenth of a point in October for the fourth straight month, to 7.4 percent. Page 35. C.I.A. Chief Will Retire Robert M. Gates, who survived extraordinarily difficult confirmation hearings a year ago, said he expected to leave in January. Page 8. U.S. Sues on Disability In the Government's first lawsuit under the new disabilities act, a company is accused of dismissing a man because he had cancer. Page 7. Guard to Patrol Florida Road Hoping to halt sniper and rock-throwing attacks, Florida's Governor ordered the National Guard to patrol an Interstate in Jacksonville. Page 7. German Reparations for Jews Germany plans to pay reparations to Jews who survived Nazi persecution but were never compensated or got minimal compensation. Page 3.

With a clock face large enough to change the whole face of lower Manhattan, a design by two of America's more adventurous architects has been chosen for the new Staten Island Ferry terminal. The design, by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, won an unusual municipal competition for a plan to replace the old ferry building, which was badly damaged by fire in September 1991. The contest attracted some of the most important architects in the country, drawn by the opportunity to place their signature at one of the city's most visible portals.

At the economic summit meetings in each of the last three years, the leaders of the seven most powerful industrial economies have solemnly sworn to do their utmost to bring global trade negotiations to a successful conclusion by the end of the year. The negotiations were too important to be left to technicians, the leaders agreed at their most recent meeting, in Munich in July. Without firm guidance from the top, they said, the talks were bound to fail, and a dangerous trade war could ensue.

President-elect Bill Clinton today named Warren M. Christopher, a former official in the Carter and Johnson Administrations, to manage the transfer of power in the White House. Vernon E. Jordan, who once headed the National Urban League, was named chairman of the transition team. Mr. Christopher, a corporate lawyer, said he would be based in Little Rock with Mr. Clinton and his closest advisers. Mr. Jordan, a lobbyist with a Washington law firm, is to supervise the Washington end of the transition effort.