July 5, 1999

Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, the man suspected in shooting rampage against Jews, blacks and Asian-Americans in Indiana and Illinois, fatally shoots himself while being pursued by police in rural Indiana; two guns found with body are consistent with shootings in Bloomington and Chicago; Matthew F Hale, leader of World Church of the Creator, an anti-black, anti-Christian, anti-Jewish organization based in East Peoria, Ill, says Smith was a nonviolent member of church; shootings began the night Hale was denied a law license in Illinois because of his racial views; photos (M)

Serbian women in unprecedented numbers are deciding not to have children, primiarly because of anxiety about the war in Kosovo, fear of civil war in Serbia and unwillingness to raise children in a nation whose standard of living has declined every year for the past decade; abortion rate appears to be rising sharply and increasing numbers of young women are telling doctors they do not want to give birth; photo; map (M)

Nathan Englander discusses his widely-praised first book, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, stories about Orthodox Jews; interview; photo; 29-year-old Long Island native was raised as Orthodox Jew and now lives in Israel, but as a secular Jew (M)

List of some upcoming cultural events in New York; photos (S)ú

US women's soccer team defeats Brazil, 2-0, and advances to World Cup final at Rose Bowl; photo; US will face China, which defeats Norway, 5-0, in semifinal match in Foxboro, Mass (M)