February 26, 2001

Saddam Hussein is firmly in control of Iraq 10 years after defeat of his forces in Kuwait, when it was thought that his regime would collapse of its own dead weight; he continues to consign opponents, would-be assassins and 'traitors' to prisons, firing squad and gallows; successfully resists any United Nations inspection of his suspected effort to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons; Baghdad is rebuilt with glittering new palaces and state guesthouses, imposing new statues of Hussein and scaffolding cladding the few bombed-out government buildings not yet restored; still, a decade of sanctions has reduced Iraqi people, if not pampered elite, to destitution; photos (M)

Campaign is under way to end Bronx's Co-Op City's participation in subsidized programs and allow residents to sell apartments at market value, rather than be confined to prices allowed under New York State's Mitchell-Lama laws; conversion will require majority vote of unit owners and, because no specific plan has been issued, there is much confusion about implementation of plan; photo; map (M)

Lawyers for Microsoft and its adversaries in Justice Department will begin two days of oral arguments before seven appeals judges in case of historic dimensions for consumers, computer industry and law; with no guarantee that Supreme Court will agree to hear any further appeals, judges of US Court of Appeals for District of Columbia circuit may wind up with definitive word on important antitrust case (M)

Amy Tan, in series Writers on Writing, discusses her latest novel: The Bonesetter's Daughter; photo (M)

New York City Board of Education is expected to approve overhaul of bilingual education, giving parents more control over their children's placement in bilingual programs; changes will make it more difficult to keep in child in bilingual programs longer than three years and will provide option of placement in dual language program, which alternates between English and foreign language; changes are in response to complaints that children in bilingual programs were marginalized from regular classes and were not learning English; photo (M)