October 11, 1999

Berlin's Leftists Gain Ten years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the successor to East Germany's Communist Party drew on disillusionment about capitalism to show gains in city elections. PAGE A9 A Russian Power Struggle A recent power play at Transneft, the state-controlled oil pipeline monopoly, was just another nasty battle in the war between political clans over power and money. PAGE A3

Colt's Manufacturing Co will abandon much of its 144-year-old retail gun business in effort to limit liability lawsuits; purveyor of Colt .45 romanticized in countless Western movies will make far fewer weapons and sell them to law enforcement agencies and military; will effectively stop selling handguns to civilians, except to gun collectors; official says company is canceling seven product lines because of trouble paying suppliers; blames litigation, saying Colt can no longer get loans to finance manufacturing; company faces 28 lawsuits from cities and counties hoping to punish gun makers with strategy similar to one used against tobacco companies (M)

AFL-CIO president John J Sweeney says labor federation will endorse Vice Pres Al Gore for President; says two-thirds majority of delegates meeting in convention in Los Angeles is committed to campaign; says Gore has good track record, noting 88 percent pro-labor voting record in Senate; says Gore has been at forefront of social issues that matter to families as Vice President; says he and other union supporters want to avoid lengthy, divisive primary that could deplete Gore's campaign treasury and weaken him in eventual showdown with Republican opponent; photo (M)

John Valentin drove in seven runs as the Red Sox borke the record for most runs in a post-season game. SportsMonday

John Tierney, in The Big City column, contends that while police officers of 24th Precinct were blitzing Upper West Side with double-parking tickets, their personal cars were double- and triple-parked outside station house on 100th Street; notes that city gives out 140,000 parking permits to municipal bureaucrats and others; maintains that officials have made congested mess of streets through VIP zones set aside for various kinds of permits and other giveaways; suggests end to free parking on many residential streets and higher rates at parking meters (M)