October 24, 1995

President Clinton and President Boris N. Yeltsin emerged from a meeting today lavishly stressing the stability of the American-Russian relationship. But they made only limited progress in finding a formula to integrate Russian troops into a peacekeeping force for Bosnia. Instead, as they ended more than four hours of talks at the estate of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the two leaders emphasized that they were committed to a solution and had instructed their military strategists to keep searching for a command structure that both could live with.

THE Sun's titanic roar is inaudible to human ears, but a global network of listening devices has begun to eavesdrop on the star's noisy digestive system, and scientists expect the sounds to yield solutions to many longstanding solar mysteries. The newly completed $20 million Global Oscillation Network Group, known by its acronym GONG, consists of six solar observatories, spaced around Earth so that the Sun will nearly always be within view of at least one of them. The system, financed by the National Science Foundation, took a decade to build and began operation on Oct. 5.

October's heavy rains have been a big boon for the depleted water supply in 119 northern New Jersey towns, officials said yesterday. Seven inches of rain this month, nearly double the normal amount, have left the 13 reservoirs that serve these towns about two-thirds full, or only 5.1 percentage points below normal for this time of year, said Steven Nieswand, administrator of water supplies for the Department of Environmental Protection.

China has selected the General Motors Corporation to be its partner in a $1 billion joint venture to manufacture cars in Shanghai, auto executives familiar with details of the project said today. By teaming with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, one of China's most profitable state-owned companies with an expert distribution and servicing network, G.M. will gain a dominant position in China's fast-growing car market.

One grew up in St. Brendan's parish in the Bronx, the other in St. Joseph's in the same borough. One first joined a union while working as a part-time elevator operator during college, the other as a part-time gravedigger. One's father was a janitor, the other's a city bus driver. And early in their careers, both held the same job at Local 32B of the Service Employees International Union, representing doormen, elevator operators and custodians throughout New York City.