May 24, 1997

American retirees who once flocked to Florida, South Carolina or North Carolina are migrating in steady stream to rural South; they are being lured by temperate weather, inexpensive living and savvy marketing by community leaders who have learned to court senior citizens aggressively; retirement has become growth industry with the aging of baby boomers; business and political leaders in South see vast potential for economic development in retirees, particularly well-heeled ones; they bring bank deposits and buy houses, food and clothing; they pay taxes, place little strain on most municipal services, do not pollute, rarely commit crimes and often volunteer in schools and hospitals; Florida's share of retiree market is still largest, but many migrants to other Southern states are moving from Florida to small towns and cities of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas to escape crowds, crime and traffic; photo; map (M)

Bill that would have provided billions of dollars in disaster aid for flood and storm victims in 33 states is left unfinished as Congress recesses for 12-day spring break; recess subjects Republican leaders in Congress to charges of politics-as-usual; $2 billion in emergency aid will continue flowing to flood-ravaged areas, but many rebuilding and economic-recovery efforts will be delayed until Congress reconvenes and then resolves unrelated budget issues that got tangled up with flood bill; photo (M)

Mexican military officers, testifying in secret court proceedings, say some of country's most prominent anti-drug operations were undertaken at behest of Mexico's biggest drug baron, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who enlisted corrupt generals in his war against a competitor; testimony is given in case against Gen Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, who was arrested on corruption charges; it shows how drug corruption has spread more widely throughout Mexico than previously thought, and it raises questions about efforts by Mexican and American Governments to rely on military in fight against drugs rather than on police, which have already been tainted (M)

Clinton Administration seeks to strip citizenship of nearly 5,000 immigrants who were wrongly naturalized in immigration drive last year; Republicans had accused Administration last fall of mounting election-year campaign to streamline citizenship procedures to allow more than 180,000 immigrants to become citizens before November elections without having their criminal records fully checked; subsequent audit by Immigration and Naturalization Service found that 4,946 people had criminal arrests that should have disqualified them, or had lied about their criminal history; INS has never revoked so many citizenships at one time; it poses enormous legal and logistical challenges for agency (M)

French leaders of conservative parties and of Socialist opposition agree that French voters do not want to endure more economic pain to meet requirements for common European currency in 1999; Pres Jacques Chirac had called election for new Parliament in hope of getting mandate to keep trimming welfare state and cut deficits; but Lionel Jospin of Socialist Party and Prime Min Alain Juppe of right, responding to public opinion, are soft-pedaling idea of sacrifice and instead promising to use euro and other economic tools to stimulate growth that is needed to lift France out of its double-digit unemployment; as result, no matter who wins, Chirac will have even harder time making further cutbacks in welfare state after elections than before; photos; chart (M)