August 30, 2000

Federal Judge James A Parker orders government to turn over classified internal documents to help him assess allegations that former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was singled out for prosecution because he is Chinese-American; also rejects government efforts to impede or add new restrictions to his decision ordering Lee's release on bail; Lee has spent more than eight months in solitary confinement since his arrest on charges of illegally downloading virtual library of nuclear weapons secrets; defense offers statements by former counterintelligence officials Robert Vrooman and Charles Washington suggesting that Lee was subject of racial profiling; photo of Lee's daughter, Alberta (M)

Viacom reportedly plans to sell Black Rock, landmark New York City office building built for its CBS unit; photo (M)

Richard N Kaplan is expected to resign as president of US news-gathering operation of CNN, which is planning a major reorganization of its management in view of declining ratings; there are conflicting reports on whether Kaplan is leaving on his own accord or if he has been asked to leave (M)

George W Bush has visited 100 schools so far during his presidential campaign, calling for expanded federal role in education just four years after Republican party called for abolishing Education Department altogether; Al Gore responds to challenge on issue that has been strong for Democrats, calling for 'revolutionary' improvements; photos; Bush focuses on making schools more accountable for student performance, giving only modest extra funding for reading program; Gore would increase federal spending by fifty percent, $115 billion over next decade, with federal funds for teacher salaries, preschool programs and school construction; both candidates have abandoned party dogma to move to center, particularly on vouchers (M)

Julie Salamon Critic's Notebook column reviews Hopkins 24/7, new six-part documentary series from ABC News that captured three months of life and death at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore; photos (M)

Booming US economy is forcing employers to actively woo women who held jobs before resigning to raise families; are finding them rich new source of talent; photos (M)

Credit Suisse Group is expected to buy Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for about $12.8 billion, paying $45 a share in cash and $45 a share in stock to AXA SA, French financial services conglomerate that owns 72 percent of firm, and $90 a share in cash for the remainder; is setting aside another $1.2 billion in a bonus pool to be used to retain employees; Donaldson, Lufkin name is expected to disappear as firm's operations are merged with Credit Suisse First Boston; Joe L Roby, Donaldson chief executive, will become chairman of First Boston's executive committee, First Boston's chief executive, Allen Wheat, will run combined investment banking operations; Donaldson shares rise $16.44, to $82.25, and shares of DLJDirect, which track firm's online trading business, rise $2.25, to $10.19; photo; graphs (M)

Article by R W Apple Jr on Sooke Harbour House, one of Canada's half-dozen best restaurants, located on Vancouver Island; recipes; photos (M)

Judge Michael E Ballachey of Caifornia Superior Court says he will issue orders compelling Ford Motor Co to recall and repair defective ignition mechanisms in nearly two million vehicles produced from 1983 to 1995; largely agrees with plaintiffs' complaints that Ford knowingly installed the defective ignition modules that regulate current to spark plugs; consumer advocates estimate that rulng will cost Ford $70 million to $250 million (M)

If you asked a sampling of middle-class New Yorkers to describe their worst nightmare, more than a few might reply that it would be to find themselves indigent and homeless on the city's streets. But as Marc Singer's remarkable documentary film ''Dark Days'' illustrates, even the worst nightmare can have descending levels of horror. Most of this unforgettable movie was filmed below the streets of Midtown Manhattan in a dank Amtrak railway tunnel where a colony of around 75 homeless put down roots, some for as long as 25 years, among the rats and the garbage. (Since the filming was completed three years ago, the community has been dispersed.) If any urban setting conjures up an image of the bowels of hell, surely this is it. And ''Dark Days'' records it in stark black-and-white pictures that stir the most primal fears of subsisting in a world without light.

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column on New York Mets 11-1 loss to Houston Astros that cost team chance to lead division; photo (M)

Placido Domingo's Operalia world opera contest will come to Los Angeles for first time on August 31; is offering $175,000 in prizes and Alberto Vilar Award to six winners selected by jury of which Domingo is chairman; photo; 57th Venice International Film Festival will feature tribute for lifetime achievement to Clint Eastwood; will begin with screening of his latest film, Space Cowboys, and will feature films by other American directors Robert Altman, Ed Communazis, book by Ohio State University professor Alexander Stephan, details spying by Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal agencies during 1930's and 1940's on hundreds of German writers, both Jews and non-Jews, who fled Hitler for refuge in US; shows government kept files on Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Erich Maria Remarque, Lion Feuchtwanger, Hermann Broch and many others; surveillance was wider and deeper than previously known and was born of concerns over Nazi infiltration and fears that Germany would eventually established pro-Soviet government; photo (M)