June 20, 2001

Bush administration moves to settle Justice Department's multibillion-dollar civil lawsuit against tobacco industry, which was announced by Pres Clinton in 1999 and strongly backed by his administration; antismoking activists attack decision, while companies react with scant enthusiasm; Pres Bush has questioned suit and Atty Gen John Ashcroft opposed suit as senator and led in blocking antismoking legislation in 1998; his new effort to settle suit is based in part on belief that government might lose in trial, view gaining credence since court dismissed one portion of case last year (M)

Six female employees sue Wal-Mart Stores charging widespread bias against women workers, Federal court; suit, which seeks class-action status on behalf of some 700,000 current and former female workers, charges chain has two work forces, with women predominantly assigned to lowest-paying posts with least chance of promotion; involves three private law firms and three nonprofit legal groups that have worked together to interview dozens of women across nation; holds women represent only third of Wal-Mart managers, compared with 56 percent of managers at largest competitors; Wal-Mart denies systemic discrimination (M)

Mark Bittman offers guidelines for preparing a seafood plateau at home, towering plates of lobsters, clams, whelks and prawns; photos; recipes (M)

Comment on Celebrity Caricature in America, exhibition of more than 200 works, on view at New York Public Library; show is organized by Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery; photo; Nantucket Film Festival opens on June 20 with world premiere of American Rhapsody, written and directed by Eva Gardos; International Hispanic Theater Festival is branching out to New York after 16 seasons in Miami; photo; new music collective Bang on a Can will present concert at Merkin Concert Hall (M)

Disclosure that Tyson Foods Inc senior chairman Donald J Tyson, 70, ordered son John, Tyson chairman and chief exec, to kill pending merger with IBP, merger John Tyson has aggressively promoted, raises questions about younger Tyson's leadership and credibility; merger remains on in wake of court ruling that Tyson had no legal grounds for withdrawing; elder Tyson controls about 90 percent of voting stock (M)

Alcatel sells sold 12.2 million shares of Alstom, French engineering company, raising 390.4 million euros ($336.4 million); Marconi PLC says it plans to sell its 12.2 million Alstom shares; graph (S)

Big Accounting Firm to Pay $7 Million in Fraud Case The Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil fraud charges against Arthur Andersen in the first such case filed against a Big Five accounting firm in more than a decade. Andersen settled the charges and agreed to pay a penalty of $7 million. The charges stemmed from failed audits at Waste Management, the trash company, which led to a $1.43 billion restatement of earnings in 1998. [Page A1.]

Lone Star Fund to buy Seoul's largest building, known as I-Tower, for $510.5 million from Hyundai Development; building, still under construction, was to be Hyundai Group headquarters (S)

Suckerfish, all-but-inedible bottom feeders in lake feeding Oregon valley, are latest rallying cry in battle to rewrite Endangered Species Act; Bureau of Reclamation's decision to cut off irrigation water to protect suckerfish in year of record drought infuriates farmers and ranchers around Klamath Falls and reignites debate over law conservatives love to hate; photos; map; at least 200,000 normally fertile acres are parched and federal court has rejected pleas to order resumption of flow; Reps Greg Walden and Wally Herger ask Interior Sec Gale Norton to convene Endangered Species Committee, which has power to weigh economics against extinction and override law's provisions; Congress is set to approve $20 million in emergency aid, but local officials put this year's farm losses at $250 million (M)

Chinese bankers visit New York to gauge investor interest in about $2 billion of nonperforming loans and real estate assets from China's state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (S)

Brazil, which expected to take advantage of foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Western Europe to expand meat exports, faces own outbreak of livestock illness; producers had abandoned traditional use of vaccines to win right to export chilled beef to United States in false hope that disease had been eradicated throughout Brazil; outbreak has strained ties among Mercosur trade group members, with Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay accusing Argentina of covering up 2000 outbreak; map; photo (M)

MG Rover to buy Italian maker of Mangusta sports car from Qvale Automotive; plans to develop luxury sports car based on Mangusta engineering(S)