As Bill Richardson, President Clinton's envoy, shuttled between foes in Zaire, American officials said their policy has come down to pushing President Mobutu Sese Seko to step down. Pages A14 and A15.

A Last-Ditch Policy in Zaire

Robert Price is shot to death in Lodi pool hall when he resisted gunman who told patrons to line up against wall and empty their pockets (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Man Shot in Pool Hall

New Jersey Turnpike Authority gives final approval to plan to build access ramps for hazardous waste incinerator in Linden (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Access Ramps for Incinerator

Le Cirque 2000, Sirio Maccioni's reinvented restaurant, opens at new location in landmark Villard Houses at 50th Street and Madison Avenue; design by architect Adam Tihany places premium on flamboyance and glamour, with burnished steel construction providing dozens of small frames through which to see and be seen; photos (M)

It's Showtime at Le Cirque

 THE D'AMATO FACTOR -- By embracing moderation, Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato is changing the terms of the rent control debate. B4.    CURBING CIGARETTE ADS -- The New York City Council is to consider a plan to ban cigarette advertising on billboards and other sites within 1,000 feet of schools. B3.     WHERE DINERS ARE THE STARS -- The latest theme restaurant to open in Manhattan: Television City in Rockefeller Center. Metro Business, B6.   

INSIDE METRO

Airlines are reporting surge of disruptive behavior in recent months by passengers herded into cramped seats, lubricated with too many drinks and denied the freedom to smoke; while such violence is far more dangerous in the air because of potential for causing crashes, it is even more common on the ground as travelers explode in rage over delayed flights or missing luggage; problem has become so serious that Air Line Pilots Association has organized April 30 in Washington, DC, to discuss ways of dealing with it; meeting also reflects hardening of industry's position toward unruly passengers; some prominent assault cases discussed; photos (L)

Airlines Must Grapple With Hostile Passengers

About New York Column discusses reaction of parents, city school officials, teachers and students to report issued by Public Education Assn and Metro NY Industrial Areas Foundation that singled out 14 'dead zone' areas in New York City where academic failure and poverty are persistent and where less than a third of children can read at grade level (M)

And the Voice Of the Student Shall Be Heard

30 Bosnian orphans who were sent to Germany during civil war in Aug 1992 have returned to orphanage in Sarajevo; when children left, some Bosnian officials protested that removing them to foreign land was wrong; people who are looking after them say they were better off where they were; plight of children seems like so many things in Bosnia to be another untidy loose end of drama that many outside country prefer to forget (M)

Sarajevo Orphans Return, to a Bleak Future

New Jersey Department of Personnel, in effort to increase effectiveness and efficiency, says that it plans to reduce its own work force to 60 from 85 next year and replace number of instructors with videotapes and computer disks (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Videos Replacing Workers

Approximately 100,000 mint juleps, traditional beverage at Kentucky Derby, will be consumed at Churchill Downs during Derby Week; drink, utterly forgotten for remainder of year, shines for brief moment in winners circle and at Derby parties nationwide; photo; recipes (M)

The Drink That Makes the Derby Run

Stock market rockets to its greatest gain in over five years--2.64 percent for the Dow Jones industrial average--when Employment Cost Index, key economic indicator measuring labor costs, shows no sign of inflation despite robust economy and many reports that skilled workers are increasingly hard to find; mild inflation report, showing rise in employment costs of just six-tenths of 1 percent for first quarter, takes some of steam out of view on Wall Street that Federal Reserve will soon feel compelled to raise interest rates again to slow economy; graph (M)

Markets Surge As Labor Costs Stay in Check

Market Place column on growing number of investors who are putting money into international stock funds; says Mutual Fund Trim Tabs, newsletter that tracks fund flows, estimates that in April, for first time since early 1994, more new cash has flowed into international stock funds than into funds that invest in American stocks; graph (L)

All of a Sudden, The New Fund Money Is Going International

Oracle Corp chairman-chief executive Lawrence J Ellison says for the moment he has decided not to buy Apple Computer Inc; adds he might reconsider a takeover at a later date (L)

Head of Oracle Halts Bid to Buy Apple Computer

Four-month effort in Jersey City to stop sale of illegal drugs has yielded 450 arrests so far (S)

450 Arrested in Drug Sweep

Burlington County Democrat Marie Hall, schoolteacher from Medford Lakes, will not be able to run for State Senate seat now occupied by Republican Martha W Bark because she has not met signature requirements (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Teacher Left Off Ballot

 The Strategy Is Patience  As a standoff with separatists continued, the Texas authorities were optimistic their restraint would soon bring a peaceful solution. Page A16.    It's Rangers vs. Devils  Buffalo's overtime victory against Ottawa set up a New York-New Jersey showdown in the hockey playoffs starting Friday. Page B14.    A Huge Art Sale in the Fall  Works estimated to be worth more than $125 million, the most valuable art trove ever sold by one owner, will be auctioned at Christie's. Page C11.    A Voice for 'Little Guys' Dies  The newspaper columnist Mike Royko died at 64 after surgery for an aneurysm suffered a week ago at his home near Chicago. Page B9.  

INSIDE

Ocean County officials say they have arrested Roger Pitman, cat burglar who preyed on waterfront homes and sometimes made his getaway in boat (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Arrest Made in Burglaries

Rwandan refugees in central Zaire say they were recently attacked by local villagers and rebel troops who forced them to flee into forest; no one knows extent of killings at Biaro camp, but survivors provide compelling eyewitness accounts that Laurent Kabila's rebel forces have attacked defenseless refugees in their sweep across Zaire, confirming suspicions of aid workers and United Nations officials; photo (M)

Machetes, Axes and Rebel Guns: Refugees Tell of Attacks in Zaire

Prime Min John Major is ignoring polls that show him running as much as 20 points behind his Labor Party opponent, Tony Blair, in Britain's May 1 election; is crisscrossing country trying to spur Conservative Party as he has in past; people say they are weary of 18 consecutive years of Tory rule and dismayed at corruption in party's parliamentary ranks (M)

Writing Seems to Be on the Wall, But Tory Chief Chooses to Ignore It

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani administration, responding to cascade of complaints about noise and safety, say that it will scale back number of helicopter flights in New York City by closing one heliport and evicting National Helicopter from another heliport; map (M)

Giuliani Plans To Reduce Copter Flights

Military jury finds Staff Sgt Delmar G Simpson, former drill sergeant at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, guilty of raping six female trainees; verdict is certain to rekindle debate on Capitol Hill and within military about military's experiment with integrating men and women; Simpson photo (M)

Sergeant Convicted of 18 Counts Of Raping Female Subordinates

Dow Jones industrial average surges 179.01 points, or 2.64 percent, to 6,962.03; it is second-largest point gain in Dow's history and best in percentage terms in more than five years; Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rises 21.09 points, or 2.73 percent, to 794.05; Nasdaq composite index rises 25.60 points, or 2.1 percent, to 1,242.63; table; photo (L)

Markets Rally as Data Ease Inflation Fears

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission tells employers that they may not ask job applicants if they have history of mental illness and must take reasonable steps to accommodate employees with psychiatric or emotional problems; guidelines are first detailed explanation of how Americans With Disabilities Act applies to mental illness; employers are not required to lower their standards for performance, but they may have to allow extra time off from work, alter work schedules and make physical changes in workplace as 'reasonable accommodation' for employees with mental disabilities (M)

EMPLOYERS TOLD TO ACCOMMODATE THE MENTALLY ILL

Nielsa Mason, 16, is found beaten to death in boys' locker room of Cumberland Regional High School in Upper Deerfield Township, NJ; unidentified male classmate is charged with killing her; map; photo (M)

Girl, 16, Slain in School and a Classmate Is Arrested

 Labor Cost Index Shows Benign Inflation  The Employment Cost Index for the first quarter showed no sign of inflation despite a robust economy and indications that skilled workers have grown increasingly hard to find.    The report sent the stock market rocketing to its greatest gain in more than five years. The data took some of the steam out of the view on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve would feel compelled to raise interest rates repeatedly to slow the economy. $(Page A1.$)    There were other signs that inflation may not be a problem. Orders to factories for durable goods fell in March, a sign that the economy may be losing some of the momentum that caused the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates last month. And the Conference Board said Americans' confidence in the economy fell more than expected this month. $(D4.$)

BUSINESS DIGEST

Adam Ryczkowski is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a winger for III liga club Legia Warsaw II.

April 30, 1997

Headlines from April 30, 1997

A Last-Ditch Policy in Zaire

Man Shot in Pool Hall

Access Ramps for Incinerator

It's Showtime at Le Cirque

INSIDE METRO

Billboard 200

Life After Death

Spice

Space Jam

Bringing Down The Horse

Ultra.

Notable Births

Historical Context for April 30, 1997