Two people die and 24 others are injured when overloaded van carrying group of Brooklyn children from Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp day camp home from a trip to an amusement park flips over on Pennsylvania highway; victims' names are not released (M)9

Two Killed On Day Trip For Children

Federal judges around nation, frustrated by cases in which patients improperly denied medical benefits by employer-sponsored health plans have no right to sue for resulting damages, are urging Congress to weigh changes in 1974 law that shields insurers and health maintenance organizations against liability suits; complain Employee Retirement Income Security Act has not kept pace with changes in health care and workplace; law established uniform Federal standards to spur employers to provide benefit (M)

Hands Tied, Judges Rue Law That Limits H.M.O. Liability

Officer Daniel Talty, a highly regarded veteran of the Jersey City Police Department, was found shot to death along with a friend on Thursday. And yesterday the prime suspect in the deaths -- a former officer on the Jersey City force -- was found dead in rural Pennsylvania, the victim of an apparent suicide.    Article, page B5.  

Police Officer Killed; Suspect Kills Himself

New York City, faced with shortage of high school science and mathematics teachers, seeks to recruit teachers in Austria, which has surplus of teachers in those fields; nearly 300 Austrians have applied for interviews and city expects to hire as many as 50; effort, suggested by Prof Alfred Posamentier, is among first large-scale international recruiting drives by area with teacher shortage; photos (M)

Low on Teachers, New York Scours Austria

A mastermind of 30 years of bombings, assassinations and plots against Fidel Castro and Cuba speaks out about his life and work. By Ann Louise Bardach and Larry Rohter. Section 1.  

A BOMBER'S TALE

Asian economic crisis is slowing demand for basic commodities, hitting hard at far-flung commodity exporting nations, while having surprisingly benign effect in United States and Europe; commodity prices are down almost 10 percent since Feb; consumers in US and Europe benefit from price drops, cushioning impact of crisis; graphs of drops in Asian currencies and commodities' prices; photo (M)

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: Swamped by Asia's Wake; Nations That Export Commodities Feel Shock Waves

Talks to settle United Automobile Workers strike at two Flint, Mich, General Motors Co auto parts plants stall as GM stiffens its demand for guarantee that workers at several other plants will not go on strike later this year; UAW holds effort to settle long-running disputes at other plants will only delay Flint accord (M)

G.M. Negotiations Are Stalled Over Pledge for No More Strikes

Accion New York, organization based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, offers loans as small as $1,000 to impoverished entrepreneurs like Eddy and Ivette Alvarez, who have established statue factory in neighborhood; microcredit movement was started two decades ago in Bangladesh by Grameen Bank, which is launching its first two programs in US, one in Harlem and one in Tulsa, Okla; photos (M)

Minor Loans Giving Major Help; Microcredit Catches On With Entrepreneurs in Need

Hudson River Studios, new development company, plans to build $120 million movie studio complex in lower Manhattan, atop existing building; complex will include five large sound stages; is set for completion by Jan 2000; plan is response to intense demand for technologically advanced studios in city with antiquated facilities; map; rendering (M)

$120 Million Movie Studio Hub Is Planned for Lower Manhattan

William C Rhoden (Sports of the Times) column says announcment by baseball owners that Bud Selig will go from acting commissioner to commissioner was greeted anticlimatically because Selig has held post of acting commissioner since 1992; says Seelig's decision to move at least part time to New York from Milwaukee will give baseball the Commissioner's presence it has lacked; Felipe Alou, manager of Montreal Expos, who ended his career playing for Selig's Milwaukee Brewers, praises Selig for his knowledge of baseball and for his promotion to full-time post; Alou photo (M)

Sports of The Times; The Body Finally Has a Head

 Stiff Charges for Marines  The pilot and the navigator of a Marine jet that hit a ski lift cable in Italy in February, killing 20 people, will be court-martialed on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Page A8.

INSIDE

Profile of Azumah Nelson, one of the greatest boxers to come out of Africa and national hero of his native Ghana; despite his 19 years in boxing, Nelson does not have widespread recognition; at age 39, he is three-time world champion in two different weight divisions; he expects to retire from boxing next year; one reason for his lack of recognition stems from having fought in lower weight divisions; Nelson is deeply spiritual man with strong faith in God; Nelson photo (M)

BOXING: The Best Boxer Nobody Knows; After 19 Years, the Career of a Ghanaian Legend Nears an End

New York Yankees defeat Tampa Devil Rays, 8-4, taking lead on home run by Chuck Knoblach; Yankee pitcher Hideki Irabu wins his first game since June 10; Irabu photo (M)

With One Big Swing, Knoblauch Bails Out Irabu

Dow Corning's tentative agreement to settle lawsuits over breast implants has illuminated the issues and forces at work when scientific controversies land in the courts or when legal ones wind up in the laboratory. Such litigation, experts say, is providing a laboratory for judges to decide how to deal with scientific controversy and with questions of what evidence to admit in court.  

Trying to Reconcile The Law and Science

Health insurer Kaiser Permanete has shattered taboo in case of Pfizer Inc's male impotence drug Viagra by frankly admitting cost is only factor in its decision to deny coverage; health insurers often restrict or exclude treatments because of costs without saying so; Kaiser's main problem is that it has no easy way to distinguish few males whose impotence is caused by physical malady from large number of men likely to demand drug; policy experts are split on ethics of stand (M)

Fallen Taboo: Frank Talk On Viagra Is About Cost

Profile of Irene Zambelli Silverman, 82, wealthy widow who disappeared from her New York City mansion and is now feared dead; police are holding Kenneth and Sante Kimes, former tenant and his mother, who were found with her passport and other documents; photos (M)

In a Life of Improvisation, A Sudden, Troubling Exit

Russian Pres Boris Yeltsin, in extraordinary series of appeals, phones Pres Clinton, French Pres Jacques Chirac, British Prime Min Tony Blair, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and International Monetary Fund director Michel Camdessus seeking $20 billion or more in Western aid to defend Russia's currency; hopes $10 billion will come from IMF, twice what fund has spoken of providing; total aid bid, which is $5 billion to $10 billion larger than Russia previously said it needed, reflects Government's fears about rapidly deteriorating economic situation, which poses threat to political stability; Clinton expresses support for Yeltsin Government, which is locked in difficult talks with IMF; Prime Min Sergei Kiriyenko tells Parliament that situation has worsened on financial markets; Yeltsin warns 'extremists' against exploiting crisis to oust him, speech to senior military officers (M)

YELTSIN IN APPEAL DIRECTLY TO WEST FOR BILLIONS IN AID

About New York column on Brooklyn child neglect case which has drawn attention of lawyer Alice Herb and four social service agencies, who accuse Administration for Children's Services of refusing to respond to their warnings that intervention is needed (M).

About New York; Danger Signs, But No Sense Of Urgency

Ethnic Albanian rebels have smuggled arsenals of anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons over border from Albania, shifting balance of power in war in Serbia's Kosovo Province; new firepower has cost Serbian forces mounting casualties, thwarted their drives against rebel enclaves, enabled rebels to inch forward toward key towns and probably insured conflict will last for months if not years; rebel movement is growing in numbers and strength, fed by recruits, money and arms from outside Serbia; Western diplomats say rebels' mounting strength and their new attacks on Serbian civilians and villages make NATO allies reluctant to intervene with air strikes; maps; photo (M)

With Better Arms, Kosovo Separatists Turn Tide in War

Speaker Sheldon Silver is reportedly considering bringing Assembly back into session this summer to vote on New York Gov George E Pataki's proposal to toughen parole rules for violent felons; aides and allies say Sheldon has come to fear that Assembly's failure to approve it earlier this year may hurt Democrats at the polls this fall (M)

Under Political Pressure, Silver Weighs Allowing Vote on Parole Bill

 Optimism on Earnings Bolsters Stock Market  Optimism about earnings prospects returned to the stock market, driving the major market measures higher. Investors were particularly upbeat about the outlooks for banks and other financial companies and for consumer goods companies.  

BUSINESS DIGEST

Correction of July 8 article on Juan Gonzalez's pursuit of Hack Wilson's major league record; Wilson is indeed Baseball Hall of Fame member

Corrections

Correction of Business Digest entry and headline in some copies with July 6 article about Proffitt's Inc's proposed acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue; Proffitt's recently moved from Knoxville, Tenn, to Birmingham, Ala

Correction of July 10 listing of Lincoln Center Festival events, which misstated one opening night

Correction of picture caption with July 10 article on sentencing of Charles Price in Crown Heights case, which misidentified man talking to reporters; he was US Atty Zachary W Carterÿ

Panagiotis Kondylis was a Greek philosopher, intellectual historian, translator and publications manager who principally wrote in German, in addition to translating most of his work into Greek. He can be placed in a tradition of thought best exemplified by Thucydides, Niccolò Machiavelli and Max Weber.

July 11, 1998

Headlines from July 11, 1998

Two Killed On Day Trip For Children

Hands Tied, Judges Rue Law That Limits H.M.O. Liability

Police Officer Killed; Suspect Kills Himself

Low on Teachers, New York Scours Austria

A BOMBER'S TALE

Billboard 200

City Of Angels

MP Da Last Don

Never S-A-Y Never

Armageddon -- The Album

Hope Floats

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for July 11, 1998