February 26, 1999

Independent truth commission report concludes that United States gave money and training to Guatemalan military that committed 'acts of genocide' against Mayans during Guatemala's 36-year brutal civil war; report contradicts years of official denials of torture, kidnapping and executions of thousands of civilians in war that commission estimates killed more than 200,000 people; commission's nine-volume report lists Central Intelligence Agency training of Guatemalan officer corps in counterinsurgency techniques as key factor that had significant bearing on human rights violations during armed confrontation; staff member of commission says panel also found evidence that United States had knowledge of genocide and still supported Guatemalan military; commission was set up as part of United Nations-supervised peace accord that ended war in 1996; photo (M)

New York Knicks defeat Minnesota Timberwolves, 115-113, in overtime, Madison Square Garden; photo of Allan Houston (M)

Germany's Deutsche Telekom, one of last old state-run companies to lose its monopoly, has been forced to cut rates sharply and has lost significant share of long-distance market as competition has forced down telephone rates across much of Europe; long-distance prices have plunged by as much as 70 percent, and new price wars are breaking out; analysts estimate Deutsche Telekom has already lost about 30 percent of its long-distance market and may lose more this year; German regulators have softened their relentlessly hard stance and set new rules this month that will make it more expensive for rivals to enter local telephone market; Gerhard Schmid, chief executive of Mobilcom, which has become second-largest long-distance carrier in Europe's biggest and most bruising telephone market, comments; graphs; photo (M)

Pres Leonid Kuchma has failed to overhaul Ukraine's Soviet-era economy, and its Parliament is swayed by current and former Communists who block land privatization and overhaul of crippling tax system; as result, Ukraine continues to teeter between East and West; it has trappings of Western democracy all in place, but bureaucracy still shows its Soviet genealogy; its basketcase economy remains lashed to its Russian past; fiscal experts say country will be hard pressed to pay its foreign debt this year; in October, Ukraine will hold its third presidential election since independence in 1991; pro-European incumbent, Kuchma, who has been unable to raise living standards, may be defeated by candidate from Socialist and Communist left, most of whom favor closer ties with Russia; photos; map; chart (L)

George Vecsey, in Sports of The Times column, speculates about whether potential new half owners of New York Yankees, being Jersey people, would be in favor of moving Yankees to New Jersey, or keeping them in Bronx in a new stadium; photo of George Steinbrenner (M)