June 7, 1997

Richard Burr, lawyer for Timothy J McVeigh, asks jurors to see him not as 'a monster or a demon' but as someone who could be their brother, their son, their grandson, and to spare his life in Oklahoma City bombing case; asserts that defense would reveal to them that McVeigh had served honorably in US Army and loved his country, but who after Federal raid at Waco, Texas, in 1993 had thought that 'Federal Government that we rely on to protect us, serve us, had turned the tables, had become master, had declared war on the American people' (M)

German authorities decide to place Scientology movement under nationwide surveillance for one year, their sharpest action yet in long battle against group they say is bent on undermining their democratic society; decision, which critics call authoritarian and impractical, means that Scientologists' mail may be intercepted, their phones tapped and their offices infiltrated by undercover agents posing as adherents; orgn says it will contest decision in court (M)

Labor Dept reports that nation's unemployment rate fell further in May to 4.8 percent, its lowest level since 1973, as Americans enjoyed an economy that has lately produced remarkable combination of low joblessness and low inflation; Pres Clinton hails report, saying nation's economy is 'strongest it has been in a generation'; even as unemployment rate falls for fourth consecutive month, number of workers on payrolls rises by relatively moderate 138,000; graphs; tables (M)

The Justice Department says notes of lawyers' conversations with Hillary Rodham Clinton on Whitewater should be protected, but it says the privilege is not ironclad. It wants the Supreme Court to order a lower court to reconsider the case.

Police Comr Howard Safir reports that 19-year-old Corey Arthur, troubled former student of Jonathan Levin, is primary suspect in slaying of idealistic teacher; police scour three New York City neighborhoods looking for Arthur, whom they think is trying to elude them; Safir issues appeal for assistance in finding Arthur, who had been in an English class taught by Levin three years ago at Bronx high school; investigators say that police lifted Arthur's fingerprint from duct tape used to bind Levin before he was tortured and shot in head in his Upper West Side apartment; investigators also say they Arthur, who has criminal record including several arrests and a conviction on drug charges, had left partial message on Levin's answering machine; photo of Arthur (M)