November 2, 2000

Repr Rick A Lazio, under fire from environmental organizations and from his opponent, stops broadcasting radio advertisement that criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton for supporting an environmental treaty on global warming known as Kyto Protocol; Lazio removes ad as his campaign is pulled deeper into bitter dispute over issue of Muslim-American support for her campaign; American Muslim Alliance official accuses Lazio of hyprocrisy for soliciting campaign solicitations from organization more than dozen times in last several months; photo (M)

Finova Group, one of fastest-growing independent finance companies in 1990's, is experiencing credit squeeze that mirrors high-yield debt market's problems; has written off $70 million loan to a computer equipment distributor it declines to identify, raising questions about other loans, and its chief executive, Samuel Eichenfield, has quit unexpectedly; Finova's stock has fallen 96 percent since February 1999, and there is no sign its problems will end soon; company is scaling back new lending; chief executive, Matthew Breyne, says company is doing everything it can to remedy situation, but it is in market that is not conducive to financial assets; chars; photos (M)

Gov George W Bush, campaigning in Minnesota, portrays Vice Pres Al Gore as big spender and seeks to sever Gore from fiscal policies of Clinton years and nation's record economic expansion; warns that Gore's 'massive spending' would mean slower growth, higher taxes and end to nation's prosperity; Bush reaches back almost two decades to showcase income tax votes that Gore cast as member of Congress from Tennessee; Bush accuses Gore of proposing $2 trillion in new spending over 10 years, but he gives no clues as to how he reached that figure; Gore camp accuses Bush of 'fuzzy math'; photo (M)

Top 27 stories of landmark Woolworth Building on Lower Broadway in Manhattan will be converted into condominium apartments, including five-level penthouse in Gothically encrusted pinnacle; photos (M)

Worldcom Inc plan to separate its fast-growing Internet and business services unit from its relatively stagnant operation that serves consumers; will issue new stock to track its consumer operation, which generally uses MCI and Telecom USA brands, as well as its wholesale operation, which sells network capacity to other communications carriers; announces revenue and profit forecasts for fourth quarter and for next year that are lower than analysts previously expected; chart (M)