December 28, 1998

Belated discovery of research on new and deadlier generation of germ warfare weapons by Russian military officers in Kazakhstan just as Soviet Union was ending its confrontation with West in 1980's fuels fierce debate in Washington over whether military is heeding Pres Boris Yeltsin's 1992 order to abandon germ warfare; discovery of animal testing of highly contagious Marburg virus at remote laboratory complex near Stepnogorsk in final days of cold war has led Clinton Administration officials and Republicans in Congress to assert that Russia is still secretly researching germ weapons; US officials say while there is scant hard evidence to support suspicions, Moscow's reluctance to open up military bases is ominous sign; skeptics of Western aid programs that pay salaries to former Russian germ scientists to thwart their recruitment by rogue or terrorist states say Moscow's lies about germ warfare program in past make trust and cooperation impossible; note Yeltsin has banned Russian experts from discussing any aspect of country's germ history and has retained several generals instrumentsl in Soviet program; worry particularly that research may be quietly proceeding on some of least known Soviet advances, such as 'bio-regulators' or germ compounds capable of controlling human moods, heart rhythms and sleep patterns; supporters of Western programs say while Russia may not be trusted unconditionally, partnership is best chance for verifying Moscow's claim to have renounced germ weapons; photos; map (L)

Merchants and Analysts Predict Solid Holiday Sales Largely undistracted by the impeachment of President Clinton and the bombing of Iraq, American shoppers appear to have spent freely from wallets that still feel pretty fat, giving retailers a bright, if not stellar, holiday season. Though industry figures will not be officially reported until early January, retail analysts and merchants are predicting that December sales in big chain stores open at least one year will rise for the second year in a row by as much as 4 percent to 5 percent. Other retailers are expecting solid gains as well. [Page A1.] Daimler Forecasts '98 Results DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-largest auto maker, said that its 1998 combined sales would rise more than 13 percent and that profit would exceed last year's figures of the combined Daimler-Benz and Chrysler. [C2.]

National Basketball Association Comr David Stern says players union official Billy Hunter rejected NBA's final offer; NBA officials see no hope of saving season; Hunter says there is still room for movement in talks; photo (M)

New York Jets defeat New England Patriots, 31-10; photos; playoffs schedule noted (M)

Museum of the Art and History of Judaism opens in Paris, in 17th-century Hotel de Saint-Aignan; is criticized for giving only scant attention to the deportation of 78,000 French Jews during World War II, after which only some 2,000 returned; decision reflects reluctance of France and French Jews to focus on this painful past, and it touches on broader debate over how far Holocaust should be treated as a central event of Judaism and whether it should be commemorated in Jewish museums or through separate Holocaust memorials; Laurence Sigal, director, comments; photos (M)