August 16, 1999

Russian commanders move to reasure anxious nation that it is not being drawn into Chechnya-like quagmire by insisting that Islamic militants in Dagestan are already on verge of defeat; say weeklong fighting is decimating rebels; say troops are ferreting out die-hards to destroy Shamil Basayev, Chechen commander of insurgents, and his band of rebels for good; some Russian military specialists remain skeptical; say while Dagestan may not be another Chechnya, it presents similar traps; conflict has become unwelcome challenge to Russian military, left demoralized by Chechen war and which is seeking to restore some of lost luster; photo; map (M)

Rapid growth of America Online, which added 5.1 million members in last year, masks possible decline in its share of Internet-access market; market for Internet service providers, rather than consolidating around AOL, Microsoft and phone companies like AT&T as expected, remains diverse industry with wide open possibilities for competitors, including small operations; AOL's monthly subscription plan is now just one of many business models for Internet access, with new models emerging weekly; graph of growing number of service providers (M)

Tiger Woods wins PGA Championship: photo (M)

New York State environmental officials last year compiled internal list of more than 1,500 places where soil or water had been contaminated with MTBE, gasoline additive that makes water taste like turpentine and is possible cause of cancer and other health problems; tally of MTBE sites is more than three times number reported publicly in state's toxic-spills database; Lewis J Saul, lawyer who is preparing to file class-action suit against oil companies over MTBE spills, says data should have been made public immediately, particularly given increasing concern about chemical which helps reduce air pollution when gasoline is burned; map (M)

Teams of performance poets from San Jose and San Francisco share trophy at National Poetry Slam, Chicago; Roger Bonair-Agard wins individual title; four-day event is raucous and well attended throughout; excerpts from poems; photos (M)

Law-enforcement officials and experts on terrorism identify new and particularly dangerous tactic of white supremacists, who are resorting to 'leaderless resistance' in which very small cells, pairs or individuals called 'lone wolves' act independently to carry out killings and other domestic terrorist attacks; say hate groups are using Internet to provide philosophical framework, while individuals with no tangible connections to such groups do killing; say Buford O Furrow Jr, unemployed white supremacist who allegedly scouted several Jewish institutions before shooting five people in Los Angeles Jewish community center, may be latest example (M)

The outcome of the Iowa straw poll, in which Gov. George W. Bush's victory was decisive but not the rout that the Bush campaign had hoped for, raises the possibility that the Texas Governor may face competition from fellow Republican Steve Forbes in six months when Iowa holds its nominating caucuses.

John Tierney The Big City column notes that Ron Unz, after leading revolt against bilingual education in California, plans to explore possibility of similar proposals for New York City public schools (M)

Minnesota Twins defeat New York Yankees, 5-3 (M)

Pres Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, daughter Chelsea and mother-in-law Dorothy Rodham go house-hunting in Westchester County, NY, as Mrs Clinton prepares for probable run for US Senate from New York; examine properties in Rye Brook, Pound Ridge, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle and Edgemont; aides say Clintons definitely plan to move to Westchester, but that they may rent instead of buy; photos (M)

Video game producers are using motion capture technology to more realistically duplicate moves of human actors; Electronic Arts Inc, which uses motion capture for over dozen sports titles and many of its other games, is seen as leader in field; such technologies are helping games expand beyond their male teen-age stronghold into increasingly mainstream form of entertainment that rivals movies in revenues; photos (M)

Majority of Paribas shareholders approve Banque Nationale de Paris's $20 billion takeover bid; only 31.5 percent of Societe Generale shareholders approve Banque Nationale's related $19 billion takeover bid; votes are setback for all three banks, blocking Banque Nationale's plan to create world's largest bank and thwarting planned friendly merger of Paribas and Societe Generale; French regulators must now decide whether to let Banque Nationale buy minority stake in Societe Generale; long struggle is likely to permanently change French and even European banking (M)