January 16, 1999

Republican House prosecutors in Senate impeachment trial say that Monica S Lewinsky's grand jury testimony is far more credible than that of Pres Clinton, who has not told truth, and that if there are any doubts, she should appear as witness; Repr Bill McCollum delves into sexually explicit material to support contentions; approach presents dilemma for Republicans since some of strongest evidence supporting perjury article involves material that caused public disdain for report by independent counsel Kenneth W Starr and proceedings of House Judiciary Committee; Repr Bob Barr urges Senate to strike down 'insidious cancers' afflicting system of government; Chief Justice William Rehnquist sustains objection by Sen Tom Harkin, staunch Clinton supporter, to Barr's use of word 'jurors' in describing senators; photos (M)

Price of Marketwatch.com, operator of popular financial news site on World Wide Web, rises more than 474 percent, its first day of trading; 2.75-million-share issue, offered to investors through underwriting group led by BT Alex Brown Inc and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp, was initially priced at $17 a share; when shares were reoffered, their first trade was at $90 a share; stock rocketed higher, peaking at $130 before closing at $97.50, up $80.50 on the day (M)d

Bill Parcells, who steered hapless New York Jets to division championship after only two seasons as coach, is first person to manage three different teams in Super Bowl; his success with Jets, as earlier with Giants and New England Patriots, is credited to his organizational skills and ability to simultaneously relate to and intimidate players; photos (M)

Brazil is warned by International Monetary Fund and US that failure to act quickly on pledges to bolster its financial condition through spending cuts and tax increases will lead to downward economic spiral; Brazil's Finance Min Pedro Malan and Francisco Lopes, central bank governor, are flying to Washington for meeting at IMF and Treasury Department; although collapse of Brazil's effort to prop up currency revealed depth of country's economic and political problems, it also came as something of a relief to policy makers, who had come to view attempt as futile and waste of country's dwindling foreigh currency reserves; photo (M)

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani abandons plans to abolish New York City's methadone treatment programs six months after announcing intentions to do so; concedes that idea was somewhat unrealistic, but says he will continue vigorously to promote drug-free programs; shift comes after five-month city experiment to move heroin addicts into abstinence programs at five public hospitals and after consultations with drug treatment experts; is applauded by state officials and drug experts who had been stunned by Giuliani's plan and his attack on researchers who embrace methadone treatment as best hope for vast majority of recovering heroin addicts (M)