November 27, 1993

When asked their reaction to the Midtown Community Court, New York City's shiny new experiment in handling low-level crimes, Marla Wilson and Rosie Cruz appeared deeply underwhelmed. True, they were exhausted. Ms. Cruz, in black fishnet stockings, a lime-green minidress and a fringed suede jacket, had been arrested for prostitution at 29th Street and 10th Avenue at 3:45 A.M. Ms. Wilson, in a striped jacket with cutaway shoulders, matching miniskirt, lace midriff camisole and thigh-climbing stiletto-heeled boots with two strands of fake pearls wrapped around one ankle, was arrested on the same charge at 58th Street and the Avenue of the Americas at 4:35 A.M.

American Diplomat in Yemen Is Seized From Car in Capital An official of the United States Information Service was abducted in Sana. State Department officials said that the kidnapping appeared to be linked to local issues and that he was reported to be in good health. Page 5. U.S. May Lift Pakistan Ban The United States is proposing the repeal of a law that bars American military aid to Pakistan because of its nuclear weapons effort. Page 5. Peru Counts Gains in Revolt With the capture of Peru's top guerrilla leader, the country is returning to a semblance of normal life, but the rebellion is still potent. Page 3. Facing Danger Hatless In a break with tradition, New York City police officers responding to emergencies will be allowed to leave their hats in the car. Page 21. No Advance in Vote Inquiry Testimony by the New Jersey Governor-elect's brother did not advance a vote-suppression inquiry. Page 21.

The train clanked forward at a top speed of 10 miles an hour, but even so it rocked on the antique, uneven tracks like a ship at sea. The grass and weeds sprouting between the ties might captivate a botanist, but John Cossman, the engineer, complained that when they get high enough, they make the wheels on his twin 130-ton engines spin as if they were rolling "through soup." This 10-mile section of the Long Island Rail Road's freight line, from Fresh Pond, Queens, to Bushwick, Brooklyn, is a piece of the aging freight tracks that still thread through large sections of New York City and Long Island, mostly forgotten but hardly unimportant.

Its creators call it "C-Span with attitude." Its detractors call it the political equivalent of televangelism. On Dec. 6, the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative group, is set to begin what seems to be the nation's first public-affairs channel with a declared ideological spin. The channel, National Empowerment Television, or NET, will offer weekly programs like "The Progress Report," with Representative Newt Gingrich as host; "War Games," a look at military strategy, and "Youngbloods," a call-in show for young people that has as its stated aim "challenging the cynicism" of MTV. 'Grievance With Washington' The channel, it seems, is supposed to do for conservative political views what Court TV has done for the legal system: make them a fixture of popular culture.

With little more than two weeks to go and tensions running high, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is warning that Israel may be unable to meet a deadline of Dec. 13 for the start of its troop withdrawal and the assumption of Palestinian authority in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho. "The date is not sacred because it was set as a target," Mr. Rabin told reporters on Thursday night. He said that "it would be better to allow more time" to make sure that there were no misunderstandings.