July 6, 1999

Bodies of 64 ethnic Albanians, slain by Serbs in village of Bela Crkva hours after NATO bombing began on March 25, are reburied following exhumation from mass graves for collection of evidence by war crimes investigators from Scotland Yard; emotional scene described; Scotland Yard's chief investigator John T Bunn says 60 victims were shot in individual groups, in deliberate fashion, along riverbank; photos (M)

Juliette Greco, grande dame of chanson francaise, discusses her return to stage in Paris at age 72, and popularity of her singing style among new generation; photos (M)

Wal-Mart Stores' hiring of Fingerhut Cos to process orders and handle distribution on Internet has help boost stock of rival Federated Department Stores, which acquired Fingerhut in Mar; providing services to burgeoning E-commerce ventures promises to be big business in near future, but Fingerhut is not expected to contribute substantially to Federated's bottom line soon (M)

Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Corp is having trouble shaking analysts' view that it is dull, low-technology company; image problems, failure to reach earnings estimates over last two hears and flat revenues have depressed stock price of former Wall Street darling; chairman Livio D DeSimone, target of critics, holds he is cutting costs, tightening procedures and getting products to market faster; graphs of stock performance and net income; photo (M)

Lincoln Center Festival director Nigel Redden discusses 20-hour Chinese opera The Peony Pavilion and other events this year; photos (M)

Total Fina SA seeks to acquire Elf Acquitaine SA, French oil refiner and chemicals conglomerate, in hostile bid worth nearly $43 billion; Elf scores offer and lines up investment banks to plot defense; analysts expect extended battle that could lead to counteroffer from Elf or to rival bids from other oil companies; Elf shares surge 21.5 percent; graphs of oil company rankings; photo (M)

Noise caused by boring machine drilling Third Water Tunnel breaks quiet in recording studio at Master Sound in Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens and forces studio to close; photos; map (M)

A Nest of Hornets In Pakistani's Promise Prime Minister Sharif is likely to find it hard to deliver on a pledge that he would seek to withdraw Pakistani-backed forces from the Indian side of the cease-fire line in Kashmir. Opposition parties sharply criticized him, and the Islamic militant fighters vowed that they would not withdraw. NEWS ANALYSIS, PAGE A3

Neil Strauss Critic's Notebook on small-scale concert at site of famous Woodstock Festival; headliner is Britney Spears; photo; Alan Gerry, who bought Max Yasgur's upstate New York farm in 1996, plans annual concert series (S)

Increasing number of Americans who work mostly at small, creative and nonprofit institutions are taking dogs to work, where they say they help to relieve stress, provide measure of security for those who keep late hours and make life seem less compartmentalized; most dog-friendly companies require that dogs be well mannered, housebroken and free of fleas; while many employees who do not have dogs seem to genuinely enjoy presence of colleague's or boss's dog, others say they merely tolerate animals and find trend loathsome; recent national observance of Take Your Dog to Work Day, sponsored by Pet Sitters International, noted; photos (M)

Japan's Executives Say Business Mood Improves The Japanese central bank's quarterly assessment of business sentiment showed that the perception of business conditions among more than 9,000 executives who responded in June was still negative, but improving. But the survey's so-called diffusion index remained solidly negative, meaning that pessimistic executives still widely outnumbered optimists. The benchmark Nikkei index of 225 Japanese stocks rose 1.13 percent, to 18,135.06 -- its highest close in 21 months. [Page C4.]

Eastern seaboard, from Carolinas to New England, has second day of 100-degree temperatures; temperature records for July 5 fall in Washington (DC), registering at 102 degrees, and in Portland (Me), which records 94 degrees; New York City and Atlantic City set records of 101 degrees; Bridgeport, Conn, hits 100 for first time on July 5 and Philadelphia ties record at 100 degrees; vacationers flee beaches for shopping malls and movie theaters; New York City Emergency Medical Service reports increasing number of heat-related calls; usual traffic nightmare for vacationers leaving Hamptons is worsened after part of highway melts in heat; photos (M)