September 24, 1999

Article on rapid decline of stock of Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, which has fallen about 85 percent from its peak amid worries that Donald Trump runs company as if there were no public shareholders; says share price, now at $4.44, is not climbing even though casinos' financial results are improving; graph (M)

Michael Kimmelman, in Critic's Notebook column, discusses Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani's threat to cut off city subsidies to Brooklyn Museum of Art if it does not cancel controversial show of contemporary British art that includes collage of Virgin Mary stained with elephant dung; photo (M)

Russian warplanes bomb Grozny airport in Chechnya and set oil refinery ablaze on outskirts of city, as Kremlin takes its military campaign against Islamic rebels deep into Chechen territory; Russian bombing raids near Chechnya's capital represent a major stepping-up of fighting and signals change of strategy; maps (M)

Mars Climate Orbiter, $125 million robotic spacecraft, first ever dispatched especially to investigate weather on another world, is missing and presumed destroyed just as it was supposed to go into an orbit around Mars; project officials say spacecraft is believed to be lost due to navigation error; Orbiter probably flew too close to Mars, within 37 miles of surface, disintegrating or burning up in atmosphere, or possibly but less likely, crashing into surface; drawing (M)

First article in series A Half-Century in China, examining scene in China as it prepares to celebrate 50th anniversary of People's Republic; finds that most people have a sense of progress and pride, despite an uncertain economy and grumbling about politics; reports on legacy of revolutionary experiment that Mao Zedong initiated 50 years ago on Oct 1, an experiment that in some way upended and uprooted virtually every family in China, leaving millions dead or broken, but ultimately easing the survivors into relative prosperity of today; contrasting experiences of two families over last 50 years discussed; chronology of China's revolution; photos (L)