Stanley Hill, the head of the city's largest municipal union was criticized by fellow labor leaders for failing to win more concessions from Mayor Giuliani before the city expands its workfare program. Several union leaders said they were disappointed that Mr. Hill failed to get the Mayor to make firmer promises -- like offering hundreds of permanent jobs to workfare participants.    Article, page B3.  

Union Head Criticized For Giving Concessions

Middle Eastern leaders begin arriving in Washington for emergency meeting called by Pres Clinton; photos; Israel indicates wilingness to negotiate some of issues of greatest concern to Palestinians, including West Bank troop withdrawals and lifting of travel curbs; US officials expect 'no miracles' as they try to stop more violence and deterioration of peace effort; King Hussein will join Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasir Arafat but Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak stays home, skeptical about Netanyahu's intentions and lack of clear agenda; Netanyahu warns that if Yasir Arafat breaks promise of nonviolence Israel will be free to break its pledges, such as withdrawing troops from Hebron; also repeats that second entrance to archeological tunnel in Jerusalem will remain open (M)

Arabs and Israelis Arriving for Emergency Meeting

Republic Industries says it has abandoned its bid to acquire ADT Ltd for more than $4 billion in Republic stock; analysts say stock market's verdict put Republic in untenable position; Republic's shares lost nearly third of their value since merger was proposed; proposal was also not popular with significant segments of ADT's shareholder base, including Western Resources Inc, utility that owns 23 percent of ADT's shares; development is setback for H Wayne Huizenga, Florida billionaire who took over Republic year ago and bought 18 companies since then; graph (M)

ADT Merger Is Abandoned In a Setback For Huizenga

Car-poolers on Route 287 in Morristown get 6.7 new miles of high-occupancy vehicle lane on Sept 30 (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

More Car-Pool-Only Lanes

Scuba divers George and Catherine Parry have received permission from city to begin cleaning out more than century's worth of garbage that has piled up on sides and bottom of Central Park Reservoir; map; photos (M)

Couple Scouring Murky Reservoir Find Fulfillment, and Lots of Bottles

Clyde Haberman, in NYC column, notes that lines have grown much longer at soup kitchens in city since Pres Clinton signed welfare-reform law; quotes Rev William Greenlaw, who runs soup kitchen out of Episcopal Church of Holy Apostles in Manhattan (M)

Soup Kitchen Feels the Heat Of a New Law

Germany's biggest industrial companies plan to trim back some of world's most generous employee benefits, taking advantage of new law to immediately cut sick pay by 20% even though labor contracts do not expire until next year; move, which shrugs off widescale labor protests, enrages unions and even startles Kohl Government; outcome will be closely watched, as French and Italian governments also propose laws to cut corporate costs and make Europe more competitive; Daimler-Benz chief executive Jurgen E Schrempp insists consensus system must be modified; German economy is groaning under strain of high labor costs, lavish vacation and sick pay benefits and rigid work rules; photo of protest by Mercedes workers; graph showing average sick days and benefits in western Europe (M)

New Hard Line by Big Companies Threatens German Work Benefits

Researchers report that lotus flower, long revered by both Buddhists and Hindus, has remarkable ability to regulate temperature of its flowers to within narrow range just as humans and other warmblooded animals do; photos (L)

Heat of Lotus Attracts Insects And Scientists

Increase in minimum wage to $4.75 an hour will affect only 3.3 percent of all workers, and impact on overall economy will be negligible; many economists predict small job losses--200,000 at most over two years in a work force of 126 million; economists agree that inflationary jolt will amount to one-tenth or two-tenths of 1 percent this year, because so few earn the minimum wage; Barry P Bosworth, economist at Brookings Institution, says even second increase, to $5.15 next September, will mean raises for 5.4 million additional workers, but will not change equation much; even in Detroit, Mich, where unemployment is nearly twice the national rate, much of the economy has moved beyond minimum-wage levels; Labor Sec Robert B Reich bristles at notion that higher minimum wage would not make much diference to workers making lowest wages; photo; graphs (M)

Politics Aside, Economy Is Shrugging Off Rise to $4.75

Growing body of evidence is pointing to period spent in womb as having a major influence on risk of acquiring heart disease and other diseases; more than two dozen studies of people in several countries in all social and economic classes published over last half-dozen years suugest that what and how much a mother eats during pregnancy can 'program' a child's organ systems before birth and set stage for metabolic or hormonal changes that may result in disease many decades later (M)

Life in Womb May Affect Adult Heart Disease Risk

George Steinbrenner 3d, principal owner of New York Yankees, who have won their first American League Eastern Division championship in 15 years, is famous for hiring and firing managers and losing his temper in public; this season he has steered clear of limelight; in stark contrast to previous years, Steinbrenner has largely let his current manager, Joe Torre, and general manager, Bob Watson, do talking for ball club that even some of his sternest critics give him credit for assembling; his close friend Bill Fugazy says Steinbrenner seems to have been chastened by deaths of Billy Martin in 1989 and Mickey Mantle last year; photo (M)

Mellow Boss Lets Bats Do the Talking

Pres Clinton will permit American computer companies to export more powerful data-scrambling software, but only if they establish system that will enable keys to code to be obtained by law enforcement officials with a court warrant; American computer and software executives have long argued that United States export controls on most sophisticated data-privacy technology put American industry at disadvantage; Pres Clinton, like former Presidents, fears that such powerful data-scrambling software could be used by foreign terrorists, drug cartels and other criminals to hide transactions and communications; Clinton has also decided to move authority for exporting encryption software from State Dept to Commerce Dept; some computer companies are expected to object to 'key' system, although IBM and several other big companies have reportedly agreed to it (M)

Accord Near On Computer Secruity Codes

Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu lays out proposals for talks in Washington with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, with intent of showing that Israel has been unfairly cast as obstructionist; he will call for high-level delegations to hold continuous closed-door negotiations until they resolve differences over Israel's agreement to withdraw troops from Hebron, provisions for Palestinian workers to get to jobs in Israel and specific security issues including proposed Palestinian airport in Gaza; Israelis tie offer to demand for Palestinian restraint, saying Yasir Arafat must forswear violence against Israeli soldiers; Netanyahu rejects closing of archeological tunnel in Jerusalem as surrender to violence (M)

Netanyahu Seeks New Talks On 3 Major Palestinian Issues

Allan Jones of Red Bank, NJ, pleads guilty in Federal court to criminal charge for his role in scheme to defraud Royal Norwegian Air Force (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S).

A Fraud Against Norway

Girls' soccer games at Middletown High School North and at other schools that had recently competed against Middletown are canceled after health authorities confirm that team member has bacterial meningitis (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Illness Cancels Girls' Soccer

Afghan capital of Kabul, overrun four days ago by Taliban militias, has been plunged into medieval labyrinth of harsh Islamic rule; photo; map; secretive six-man ruling council of clerics has reshaped everday life, closing down movie theaters and television and banning music; all men in government jobs are ordered to grow untrimmed bears and not to wear Western suits; girls' schools are closed; women with jobs are ordered to stay home and wear full chaderi when they go out; Afghan Muslims, who had enjoyed liberal way of life, do welcome end of 22-month siege and hope for end to long civil war; Taliban fighters reportedly head north to press fight against two remaining rival militias (M)

New Afghan Rulers Impose Harsh Mores Of the Islamic Code

Article in series The Race for President discusses erosion of Republican strength in West; George Bush fared poorly in region in 1992, and Bob Dole is struggling to head off debacle, especially in California; 13 Western states, mostly conservative stronghold until l992, are poised to become solid part of Democratic base in years to come; only sparsely populated Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah seem firmly committed to Dole, but these states have only 15 electoral votes compared with 54 in California alone; Clinton has comfortable lead most everywhere else, even in Arizona, which last voted for Democratic president in 1948; Ross Perot ran strongly in region in 1992, but shows hardly any strength this year (M)

Democratic Tide Is Eroding G.O.P.'s Stronghold in West

As one of economy measures in Gov Christine Todd Whitman's current budget, state has stopped publishing list of vacant Civil Service jobs (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

State Jobs, but Not on Paper

Under bill to be unveiled on Oct 1, parents who are afraid that future tuition increases will make college education unaffordable will be able to lock in price earlier in state college system by paying tuition and housing costs in advance (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Locking In College Tuition

Market Place column examines quarter's gains in stock markets at home and abroad; Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks ended period at record 687.33 points, and Dow Jones industrial average came near a record, but closed dozen points below high it set last week; Dutch market sets record close on Sept 30, and those in Britain and Germany set peaks earlier in month; even France, whose economy is struggling, rose nicely; with exception of Japan, which saw small decline, much of world seems to be moving in tandem, paced by expectations that gradual growth in industrialized world will continue and a belief that few acceptable alternative investments are available (M)

Despite a Selloff, a Good Quarter for Stocks

Kmart is opening two huge new stores on West 34th Street and Broadway at Astor Place, after years of shunning Manhattan for its high real estate and energy costs; photos; company, struggling to regain market share from fierce competitors like Wal-Mart, aims to offset operating costs with high volume of sales to New Yorkers who have viewed discount chain as caricature of suburban shopping-center culture; store manager Myles Johns says 'people don't realize how normal New Yorkers are'; he also envisions blue-light-special sales in various languages for tourists; Astor Place store was once Wanamaker's, and building is being restored (M)

Kmart Changes Its Tune, to 'Manhattan'

New York City Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani, in address to University of Minnesota conference on immigration, says new Federal welfare law's denial of many social services to legal immigrants is morally wrong and unconstitutional; accuses Congress and Pres Clinton of trying to limit immigration by making lives of immigrants miserable; says city plans to file lawsuit challenging law; photo (M)

Mayor Widens Attack on Cuts To Welfare

Newark City Council will consider measure that would eliminate bus lanes on Broad and Market Streets during evening rush hours (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Buses vs. Merchant Parking

Summary of major news stories on inside pages

INSIDE

Competing teams of highly innovative car designers are about to go after last major speed hurdle on land: breaking the sound barrier by hurtling across dry lake at dizzying speeds of 760 miles an hour or more; with vehicles just off the ground, buffeted by forces that no one can foretell with certainty, risks are as staggering as potential glory; several groups around world have built or are designing and building jet-powered cars that they say will break land speed record of 633.47 miles an hour; two major players in challenge are Craig Breedlove and Richard Noble; photos; drawings (M)

October 1, 1996

Headlines from October 1, 1996

Union Head Criticized For Giving Concessions

Arabs and Israelis Arriving for Emergency Meeting

ADT Merger Is Abandoned In a Setback For Huizenga

More Car-Pool-Only Lanes

Couple Scouring Murky Reservoir Find Fulfillment, and Lots of Bottles

Billboard 200

Home Again

New Adventures In Hi-Fi

Another Level

Falling Into You

Test For Echo

Historical Context for October 1, 1996