January 14, 1997

Climatologists rank 1996 as the fifth-warmest year ever recorded in global terms, even though North America and Europe were unusually chilly for much of the year; hold that 1990's remain the warmest decade on record, with 1980's second; some scientists demur, saying rise in temperature last two decades is too small to be statistically significant; those who do see a rise do not expect any global warming due to emission of greenhouse gases to be smooth and continuous; say heavy precipitation like that experienced by Americans in Northeast and Northwest in 1996 may be a consequence of global warming; map (M)

Federal program Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, while successful in New Jersey, is imperiled because of lack of financing nationwide (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Charles R Buckley seeks to deflect criticism over his announcement of case against four Ridgewood teen-agers accused of gang-raping 14-year-old girl on Dec 20; Buckley says he did not issue news release concerning arrests until Jan 9 because he was concerned that publicity might interfere with investigation (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Under the glare of intense publicity, lawyers began picking a jury to hear the case of a man accused of raping and killing 7-year-old Megan Kanka, whose death spurred a nationwide movement to alert communities when convicted sex offenders move to their neighborhoods.

Business Digest for January 14; stories include record net investment of $223 billion last year for mutual funds that buy stocks

Three Brick Township teen-agers are arrested after they broke nearly 100 windows in local high school and in three district school buses, causing $50,000 in damage (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators work with American mediators on drafts of accord governing withdrawal of Israeli forces from Hebron and West Bank, delaying again agonizingly elusive agreement; stalemate centers on final haggling over wording of documents to accompany Hebron agreement, which lists unfulfilled obligations of both sides under existing treaties and timetable for further Israeli withdrawals (M)

Evidence of a correlation between heart disease and depression prompts research on which is the cause and which the effect and on how the apparent link between the two might be broken; one theory on how depression might cause heart disease focuses on well-documented biochemical changes that occur in depressed people, like the secretion of stress hormones, while another suggests that depressed people do not take care of their health and may neglect to take medications like those that control high blood pressure, leaving themselves vulnerable to heart disease; drawing (M)

Law enforcement agencies and securities regulators are seeking to put out of business small but persistent group of Russian emigre stock brokers that Government charges is using strong-arm sales tactics and outlandish promises to sell shares in dubious enterprises to unwitting investors, many of them from Russia; regulators in Washington and around the country have brought enforcement cases against loosely linked community of Russian individuals and firms based in New York and California; in one case New York Attorney General has temporary restraining order served in San Diego on companies run by Vladislav Steven Zubkis, who state officials say owns unlicensed brokerage firm that pushes unregistered stock he controls; case follows shortly indictment in New York of Igor Shektman of Enciono, Calif, who helped more than dozen men get securities licenses by taking their exams for them; Shektman photo (L)

Mayor James Whelan of Atlantic City, who was assailed by city's police union last month after he said that Police Department should be run by civilian administrator, nominates George Pugh, former Camden Police Chief, as city's first public safety director (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Two mail clerks are injured in London in explosion of one of four letter bombs mailed to Arab-language newspaper, Al Hayat; four other bombs, also addressed to newspaper, are found and disarmed at UN; investigators report no suspects or motives in widening campaign of terror against tabloid, which is owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan; photo (M)

New York State, beginning January 18, will eliminate sales tax for one week on clothing and related items that cost under $500; plan, aimed at stopping flow of shoppers out of city and into surrounding states that do not tax clothing purchases, is riddled with confusing details as retailers try to figure exactly which items are tax exempt and which are not (M)