Andre Agassi defeats Todd Martin to win men's singles championship at US Open tennis chamionships; photo (M)

It's Agassi in (What Else?) a Comeback

Bernard Holland reviews New York City Opera production of Madama Butterfly, with Oksana Krovytska and Rafael Rojas in leading roles; photo (M)

Resounding With Novel Ideas, Not Novel Acoustics

John Cardinal O'Connor makes first public appearance since removal of small tumor from his brain, delivering homily at St Patrick's Cathedral for Cardinal's annual mass in honor of organized labor; discusses his surgery and recovery process (M)

Cardinal Ascends Pulpit for First Time Since Tumor Surgery

Vodafone Airtouch PLC and Bell Atlantic Corp are reportedly planning to consolidate their United States cellular telephone operations into separate company with 23.5 million subscribers and value of between $70 billion and $80 billion; for Bell Atlantic, joint venture with Vodafone Airtouch would give it national cellular footprint it has craved; Vodafone Airtouch would get expanded American presence to rival national wireless networks of AT&T and Sprint; Bell Atlantic and Vodafone Airtouch were hostile adversaries in January, when Vodafone Group snatched Airtouch Communications from Bell Atlantic in two-week bidding war; combined companies became known as Vodafone Airtouch; photos (M)

Bell Atlantic And Vodafone, Once Enemies, Are Now Allies

New York Giants defeat Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 17-13; photo (M)

Giant Offense Gives Thanks To Defense

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column on New York Jets losing quarterback Vinny Testaverde and running back Leon Johnson for season with injuries in loss to New England Patriots (M)

Sports of The Times; Ruptured Game Plan

Women become focus of debate over restructuring Medicare and Social Security; shift reflects basic demographic and political reality that they not only live longer than men, but are also more economically insecure, have more chronic health conditions and, as result, become more dependent on such basic safety net programs; defenders of safety net programs say highlighting this vulnerable population is good policy but could have potent political appeal; debate on Capitol Hill has also become bipartisan; Clinton Administration and Older Women's League contend that coverage gap is particular hardship for older women, who spend greater share of income on health care than men; Republican leaders say they will focus on needy in debating issue; drug industry's current advertising campaign features Flo, sixty-something woman who is in the two-thirds of Medicare population that has private drug coverage; plays to worries of people in group that their insurance will be replaced by less-generous and more-intrusive Government plan; graph (M)

THE DEBATE ON AID FOR THE ELDERLY FOCUSES ON WOMEN

American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes, emerges as early favorite at 24th Toronto International Film Festival; 10-day festival will present 319 films, including 64 world premieres and 107 North American premieres; Toronto has emerged in last decade as among most important and popular stops on international festival circuit; photo (M)

Films, Parties and High Hopes in Toronto

Longstanding feud between Giuliani administration and Housing Works is reignited when administration blocks effort by group to participate in state program to help welfare recipients with HIV find jobs in New York City; group has long history of doing such work and receiving high marks from state officials evaluating its proposal; Housing Works and state officials describe move as vendetta by City Hall against group that has been highly critical of Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani; administration, in trying to block contract, cites years-old accounting problems that the group had (M)

Battle Over Albany Contract Pits An AIDS Group Against Giuliani

Power failures this summer in big cities like Chicago, New York and New Orleans cause about nation's largest electric power companies; utilities are grappling with deregulation, aging and long-neglected equipment, new and sometimes confusing networks and unprecedented demands for electricity; experts say industry's emergency power reserves are getting dangerously low, largely because of decadelong reluctance to build power plants because of costs and uncertainty about power demands; photos (M)

After Summer's Power Failures, Concerns About Large Utilities

NBC executives, asked about CBS-Viacom merger, say they do not feel pressured by way other networks have aligned themselves with big partners that own film studios capable of producing television programs; every deal NBC has considered in past decade has been influenced by its status as unit of General Electric Co, which aims to make money for its shareholders each quarter; because no deal that might dilute earnings could be contemplated, NBC has passed up several properties it would have liked to acquire; NBC executives say GE's insistence on earnings protection forces them to be more creative; NBC is near to closing deal with Paxson Communications Corp to spend $400 million for 32 percent interest in Paxnet network, lineup of 73 television stations reaching 75 percent of nation's viewers; deal is not expected to dilute NBC's earnings; photos; graphs (M)

NBC Sticks to Solo Strategy as Its Media Rivals Consolidate

East Timorese fleeing campaign of terror by Army-backed militias encounter fresh danger in makeshift camps in neighboring West Timor; gangs roam camps, harassing aid workers and journalists in search for those they believe voted for independence; fear is pervasive as army and police seem unwilling or unable to control gangs, which effectively run camps; Indonesian Government is supplying food and water to refugees, but international relief agencies are reluctant to send staff members; photo (M)

East Timorese Flee Homes, And Encounter More Danger

New York Times increases suggested newsstand price on weekdays from 60 to 75 cents in greater New York metropolitan area (S)

To Our Readers

John Tierney The Big City column questions Peter Unger, a philosopher at New York University, on the morality of the enormous sums spent by Ronald Perelman and Patricia Duff on their daughter, Caleigh, as revealed in their child custody dispute; Unger has argued that Americans are guilty of similarly 'monstrous' behavior by spending money on themselves instead of donating it to save the lives of children in poor countries (M)

The Big City; At What Price Excess in Care Of 4-Year-Old?

Class-action lawsuit accuses New York City of releasing mentally ill inmates without follow-up care; Justice Louise Gruner Gans has issued temporary restraining on behalf of two plaintiffs in suit, requiring city to provide them with medication and referrals for expedited Medicaid, treatment and shelter; advocates say that city treats more than 15,000 seriously mentally ill inmates as patients each year, but typically releases them the same way it does any other inmate, forcing them into a revolving door of deterioration and re-arrest; photo (M)

Back on the Streets Without a Safety Net; Critics Assail Lack of Followup Care For Freed Inmates With Mental Ills

Relations between Greece and Turkey improve with spectacular suddeness in in wake of earthquakes in both countries in last few weeks; each has sent rescue teams to help the other, and gestures have been greeted by waves of ecstatic publicity and popular emotion; although serious political differences remain, both sides are displaying willingness to resolve them that has not been shown for generations; map; photo (M)

Earthquakes Help Warm Greek-Turkish Relations

North Korea has tentatively agreed to end its testing of long-range ballistic missiles in exchange for a commitment from the United States and Japan to move forward with economic assistance for the Government there, American officials said.    Article, page A7.

North Korea in Pact

Pres B J Habibie concedes that Indonesian Government forces are unable to control continuing violence in East Timor and capitulates to international pressure by inviting UN to send peacekeeping force to troubled territory; says international force must work hand in hand with Indonesian troops, who appear divided over whether to undermine or enforce policy of allowing East Timor to choose independence; Prime Min John Howard of Australia, which is spearheading potential force, praises decision; Defense Min John Moore says deployment may take three to five days after Indonesia and UN work out details; Pres Clinton says US contribution will be limited but important, such as providing intelligence reports and communications help; maps (M)

Indonesia Invites a U.N. Force to Timor

James Salter article in series, Writers on Writing, describes power of well-written word; says it is from reading that one gets urge to be writer; says literature is not dead, but it has lost its eminence; worries that new population will live on diet of film, television and Internet; says literature, writing that never stops being read, is history of nations; photo (M)

Once Upon A Time, Literature. Now What?

 Microsoft and U.S. Refine Arguments in Antitrust Case  In court filings on Friday, Microsoft and the Government made their last written submissions of evidence before final oral arguments in the software giant's Federal antitrust case begin on Sept. 21. The documents gave each side a chance to refine its own points while taking jabs at the arguments offered by the other.    But more revealing may be a series of E-mail messages that the Government subpoenaed from Microsoft. Those discussions involved the public-relations campaign that the company devised when Netscape, cast as a victim of Microsoft's monopoly, was being acquired by America Online. The spin was that the purchase of Netscape rendered the Government's antitrust suit irrelevant. [Page C2.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Garageband.com, Internet start-up company, will introduce new Web site designed to bridge competing worlds of on-line digital music and traditional recording industry; Garageband.com will focus on thousands of small and struggling musicians and groups in United States who find it impossible to sign with major recording studio but also have discovered they cannot make profit by giving their music away over Internet; Garageband.com hopes to entice undiscovered musical groups with promise of recording contracts and distribution agreements; it will use digital audience polling as way to improve its odds for releasing commercially successful CD's; photo (M)

Bridging Two Worlds to Make On-Line Digital Music Profitable

Cherry Lane Alternative, new nonprofit organization committed to developing emerging artists, has Mentor Project, which pairs young playwright with distinguished playwright who acts as mentor and guides fellow's work from first draft to final production; Christopher Shinn's play, Four, will be produced at Kaufman Theater; photo; Maria Guleghina withdraws from Metropolitan Opera's new production of Boito's Mefistofele because she is pregnant; her roles will be performed by Veronica Villarroel; cellist Janos Starker celebrates his 75th birthday with help from Mstislav Rostropovitch, who will lead all-star string choir at Indiana University School of Music; city of Antwerp and Royal Academy of Arts in London will present more than 100 paintings to celebrate 400th anniversary of birth of Anthony Van Dyck; photos (M)

FOOTLIGHTS

Boston Red Sox defeat New York Yankees, 4-1; photo (M)

Lost Weekend Leaves Yanks Watching Their Backs

New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde ruptures Achilles' tendon during opening minutes of game against New England Patriots in East Rutherford in first game of 1999 football season and will be lost to team for remainder of year; teammates are stunned; Patriots win, 30-28; photos (M)

Bewildered and Battered, Jets Discover It's First-and-Long

 German Leader Is Humbled  The political plight of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder intensified as his Social Democratic Party was thrown out of government in elections in Thuringia and suffered setbacks in the Ruhr.   PAGE A3    Call for a Change in Kosovo  Lieut. Gen. Sir Mike Jackson, the NATO commander in Kosovo, said soldiers have done about all they can to restore order, and civilians must take over.   PAGE A5

INSIDE

Choi Yeon-jun, known mononymously as Yeonjun, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and dancer. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Tomorrow X Together, which debuted under Big Hit Entertainment in March 2019. He debuted as a soloist in September 2024 with the song "Ggum".

Yeonjun, South Korean singer, songwriter and dancer

Yeonjun

Benjamin Samuel Bloom was an American educational psychologist and didactician who made contributions to the classification of educational objectives and to the theory of mastery learning. He has greatly influenced the practices and philosophies of educators around the world from the latter part of the twentieth century.

September 13, 1999

Headlines from September 13, 1999

It's Agassi in (What Else?) a Comeback

Resounding With Novel Ideas, Not Novel Acoustics

Cardinal Ascends Pulpit for First Time Since Tumor Surgery

Bell Atlantic And Vodafone, Once Enemies, Are Now Allies

Giant Offense Gives Thanks To Defense

Billboard 200

Christina Aguilera

Forever

Millennium

Significant Other

Mary

Notable Births

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for September 13, 1999