February 17, 1994

It may be nearly as wide as a semitrailer truck, as heavy as two ordinary cars and as expensive as a modest home in some parts of the country. But in a car culture in love with four-wheel-drive vehicles, and in a winter that has often defeated conventional automobiles, it has been embraced by a devoted few as the thing to drive. "I have five cars in my family," said Audray Baker of Flemington, N.J., "but this winter, it's the only one that can get up my driveway."

Closing arguments for the defense began in the World Trade Center bombing case yesterday, with the lawyer for one of the four men on trial directly admitting for the first time that there was a terror bombing plot and that his client was involved in it -- but as an unwitting dupe. The lawyer argued that his client, Mohammad A. Salameh, the lead defendant in the trade center trial, was maneuvered by an "evil genius" who is a fugitive in the bombing case.

LIGHTED by the blue and orange glow of a video monitor, Dr. Lori Cupp watched intently as she supervised another surgeon removing sections of a Navajo patient's diseased gallbladder through a tiny slit in the patient's navel. In the high-tech world of the operating room, she often meets surgeons who view their skills as akin to auto mechanics: fixing things in need of repair. But for Dr. Cupp, who the Association of American Indian Physicians said is the first Navajo woman to become a surgeon, surgery is a powerful, spiritual experience.

Jean-Luc Brassard of Canada soared over the moguls course to a freestyle skiing victory. Stine Lise Hattestad won the women's gold. 2D RECORD FOR SPEED SKATER Johann Olav Koss of Norway set a world record in the 1,500 meters after breaking the 5,000 mark, then donated his bonus to charity. HARDING AND KERRIGAN MEET Tonya Harding arrived in Norway and had a chance encounter with her rival, Nancy Kerrigan. The two practice together today. SportsThursday, page B11.

CLINTONS PITCH HEALTH PLAN TO ELDERLY Speaking at a forum in Edison, N.J., President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, began an aggressive effort to pitch their health-care proposal to older Americans, whose backing of the plan has been more tepid than expected. A20. NEW YORK CITY DEFENDANT WAS DUPE, HIS LAWYER SAYS The lawyer for one of the four men on trial in the World Trade Center case admitted for the first time that there was a terrorist bombing plot and that his client was involved in it -- but only as an unwitting dupe. A1.

A draft of the Administration's plan to end homelessness says the problem is "far larger than commonly thought" and calls for spending large, though unspecified, new sums on housing, mental health and tax credit programs. The plan was ordered last spring by President Clinton and drafted by an interagency group headed by three Cabinet Secretaries. It represents a departure from a 12-year standoff between advocates for the homeless and Government officials about the scope and cause of homelessness.

Officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service say they plan to charge people seeking political asylum a $130 fee and to delay issuing work permits for 150 days to try to to deter new applicants and cut the backlog of asylum claims. The fees would make the United States the only nation in the world to charge an application fee for people who contend that they are fleeing persecution in their homelands, according to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees.

In a preview of how vigorous the competition in home entertainment may become, state regulators gave approval today for a company with no employees yet to compete directly against the nation's largest cable television operator. Analysts and industry officials said the decision was one of the first in the nation since Congress encouraged cable television competition in a 1992 law. It will also make Hartford and its suburbs, with a total of 136,000 homes, one of the largest markets to offer residents a choice not only of what to watch, but also whom to buy it from.

DECOR can speak volumes. Seemingly innocent furnishings, like guest towels, beds, washstands and rockers, can be threads in a web of memories that tie together cultural differences, social divisions and personal identity. Elaine Reichek, who grew up in Brooklyn in the 50's, remembers her bedroom on the top floor of a pseudo-Dutch Colonial house, with its ersatz colonial canopy bed from Ethan Allen's 1776 Collection, its braided rugs and its faux-Early American fire screen. Her parents, Hilda and Jack Reichek (he was in the furniture business), were "first-generation Jews." But, she said of her parents, "being Jewish was not discussed." She continued: "There was no Judaica in the house, nothing that remotely suggested Jewish culture."

Barring planetary death by meteor or the outbreak of war between England and France, the ceremony that will change Europe forever is set for May 6. The Channel Tunnel, proudly billed as the first land link between Britain and the Continent since the Ice Age, will be officially opened. France is approaching the day of destiny with the technological maturity of a nation that produced the Minitel computer linked to telephones and the high-speed train called the T.G.V.

After intense lobbying by President Clinton and his top advisers, the Administration announced today that Saudi Arabia had decided to replace its fleet of commercial jets with American planes. The $6 billion sale should provide jobs for tens of thousands of Americans. Announcing the decision at the White House with Saudi Arabia's Ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, by his side, President Clinton said the sale was an example of how his Administration intended to campaign for contracts for United States businesses as ferociously as European and Asian governments have done for theirs.

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo renewed his push today for a complex plan to ease the large and growing costs of Medicaid on New York City and county governments and offered to sweeten the deal with more money sooner from the state. Mr. Cuomo said an improving economy would give the state unexpected revenues, allowing it to give New York City and the 57 other county governments a total of $110 million in the state's fiscal year, which begins on April 1. That would be a small fraction of the $3.4 billion that those governments are expected to spend on Medicaid in the coming fiscal year.