June 14, 1999

In a brash move, Qwest Communications International, a telecommunications upstart, made a $55 billion bid to buy the regional phone giant U S West Inc. and the Frontier Corporation, a long-distance company. The hostile offer exceeds the bids the two companies accepted from Qwest's rival, Global Crossing Ltd. Business Day, page C1.

NATO is failing thus far at stated intention of creating climate of security in Kosovo, as Serb living near Albanian border in western Kosovo flee in panic behind their army and police; exodus is smaller mirror image of flight of nearly one million ethnic Albanian Kosovars; fleeing Serbs say armed Kosovo Liberation Army rebels are moving back into area's towns and villages; Albanians who remained in Kosovo hail NATO troops finally spreading through province; photos (M)

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Mike Myers' sequel to his successful 1997 film, opens to extraordinary box office tally of $57.2 million in first week-end; results underline strength of teen-age audience but also hunger of older crowd for raunchy, seriously silly and over-the-top jokes; photo (M)

Members of Congress are on all-out fund-raising binge driven by battle for control of House, competition for money with Presidential campaigns and early push by incumbents to scare off challengers; all four Senate and House campaign committees have, for first time, created own special programs to court and cater to donors willing to give $100,000 in each of two years of 2000 campaign cycle with array of incentives; Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee head Rep Patrick J Kennedy is offering weekend at Kennedy family's Hyannisport, Mass, compound (M)

Israeli pioneers who built farms from scratch in sparsely populated wilderness in response to Government's call to settle Golan Heights seem ready intellectually, if not emotionally, to consider leaving as Prime Min-elect Ehud Barak prepares to restart talks with Syria; Golan Heights residents voted overwhelmingly for Barak, even though he favors peace with Syria; party whose single issue was preserving Golan won only 14.8 percent of votes in Golan itself; map; photo (M)