November 30, 1992

In the darkness of the Rio Grande Valley, the beam of a flashlight captured the face of a frightened, skinny 15-year-old, clutching a sack with all his belongings: an extra shirt and pair of pants. "Where are you from?" the United States Border Patrol officer asked.

A draft Central Intelligence Agency report on Iran concludes that the country is making progress on a nuclear arms program and could develop a nuclear weapon by 2000, senior Administration officials say. But the highly technical report reflects a continuing debate among intelligence experts on Iran's military buildup that will intrude on efforts by President-elect Bill Clinton to formulate his Middle East policies.

President of Venezuela Vows to Stay in Office Carlos Andres Perez said that despite a second attempt to depose him, he would surrender power only to a successor chosen in elections a year from now. More than 200 died during the failed coup on Friday. Page A6. Jockeying on Capitol Hill Even before they take office, freshman members of Congress are fighting like political pros for influential committee assignments. Page A11. Diplomatic Anxiety in Israel The Israeli Cabinet condemned neo Nazism in Germany but avoided saying what it might do if xenophobic violence continued there. Page A8. Crackdown on Sick Days As the number of workers calling in sick rises, companies are hiring investigators to track down abuses of their sick-leave policies, raising concern about privacy rights. Page A12.

Call it pathetic, call it lackadaisical, but whatever you call the Knicks' performance tonight, call it ugly. Playing like impostors instead of the team that manhandled the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, the Knicks stumbled and fumbled to a 92-76 loss to the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

A little more than a year after Connecticut, New Jersey, New York State and New York City signed an agreement intended to end the luring of companies from one another, the interstate war for jobs is intensifying and the so-called nonaggression pact seems close to collapse. In recent months, New Jersey and Connecticut have fattened the packages of financial aid they offer companies that relocate there. New York State, which has had the biggest arsenal of financial incentives, has been forced to increase sharply the amount it doles out to keep companies from leaving.