January 29, 1997

Article discusses changing neighborhood of Corona, Queens, which has gone from predominantly Cuban community to one that now engulfs Asians and Spanish speaking groups from Latin and South Americas; examples cited; map; photo (M)

Investigation by Justice Dept's inspector general's office has put FBI's high-tech forensic laboratory, and way agency has used it, under glare of public scrutiny; findings are threatening to shatter agency's image; FBI officials recently announced shake-up at laboratory, transferring four senior employees; officials say dozens of cases have been affected by problems associated with laboratory's work; among problems cited are sloppy handling of evidence and lax procedures within laboratory; range of problems has been evident in several well-know cases, including Oklahoma City bombing, World Trade Center bombing and Atlanta Olympic bombing; transferred officials are Frederic Whitehurst, David Williams, Roger Martz and James T Thurman (M)

A leader of Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction, intends to drop his challenge to a Federal court decision to deport him to Israel to face terrorism charges, the State Department said yesterday. The Hamas leader, Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, 46, was arrested in July 1995 on his return to New York from a trip abroad and has been in a Manhattan jail ever since.

Walt Disney Co puts up for sale publishing businesses acquired in 1995 purchase of Capital Cities/ABC Inc; properties include seven newspapers, consumer publications and trade magazines; sale could fetch $2 billion to $3 billion; Disney reports net income rose 33 percent in fiscal first quarter ended Dec 31 to $749 million, up from $565 million in year-earlier period; is joining with Comcast Corp to acquire control of E! Entertainment Television for $320 million; Comcast, which already owns 10.4 percent of cable network, will raise its stake to 50.1 percent and Disney will own rest as result of purchase of Time Warner Inc's 58.4 percent stake; map; table (M)

Treasury to auction $7 billion in new 10-year inflation-indexed bonds, expected to yield holders some 3.5 percent above inflation rate; such bonds, if available earlier, would have outperformed most financial investments in 1970's, but would have provided relatively poor returns in recent years; graphs; drawings (M)