September 5, 1998

Prosecutors in Chicago drop charges against two boys, ages 7 and 8, who were accused of killing an 11-year-old girl, Ryan Harris, after finding semen on girl's panties, which cannot be reconciled by boys' age; turn of events raises questions about ability of juvenile systems to be fair and accurate in their investigation of such young defendants; prosecutors and police defend their handling of the investigation (M)

Sammy Sosa hit his 57th home run and Mark McGwire (0 for 3) stayed at 59 in baseball's race within a chase. SportsSaturday, page D1.

Corpus Christi, Tex, which has few spectacular natural assets or claims to fame, has pursued tourism methodically; success of heavy investment is evident in rising number of visitors to hard-to-reach beach town; town is expecially determined to attract more Mexican tourists; graphs; photos (M)

Investigators say crew of Swissair Flight 111 appeared to be in control of jet and to be making rational decisions about how to land it until it abruptly disappeared from radar, shortly before it crashed off coast of Nova Scotia on Sept 2; say jetliner changed course only once, when the pilot was told that he should try to land in Halifax rather than in Boston; grieving families from several countries converge on Peggy's Cove, fishing village closest to downed plane; recovery of bodies and wreckage and the investigation are frustrated on several fronts; photo (M)

*** Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman, signals that Fed is now less concerned about inflation as a threat to American economy and is increasingly wary that the spreading global financial crisis could harm US, speech at University of California at Berkeley; Treasury Sec Robert E Rubin meets in San Francisco with Japan's new Finance Minister, Kiichi Miyazawa, to drive home the message that the best hope of halting the crisis lies in quick action by Japan to stimulate its economy and shore up its financial system (M)