Gov John G Rowland vetoes bill that would have forced Connecticut's six oldest and least efficient power plants to cut emissions of smog-forming sulfur dioxide and end plants' ability buy federal emission credits from other, cleaner plants in Northeast; says bill, which he earlier said he would sign, would worsen state's air quality on smoggiest days and leave state open to California-style power shortages this summer; Democrats and environmentalists say veto show Rowland cares more about power-industry profits than clean air (M)

In Reversal, Rowland Vetoes Bill to Cut Emissions at 6 Power Plants

Government is taking bids on Israel's first large desalination project, to be build on Mediterranean south of Tel Aviv; plants promise to ease Israel's chronic water shortage and avert clashes with Arab neighbors over region's dwindling ground water supplies; will use energy-efficient filtration devices Israel has helped to perfect; continuing technological innovation has pushed price for desalted seawater down to affordable level; map; photos (M)

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: Israel Raises Its Glass To Desalination; Water, Water Everywhere Just Waiting For Price to Drop

As G.O.P. Race Goes to Wire, Many New Jerseyans Yawn

Atlanta Braves defeat New York Mets, 10-1; photos (M)

Mets Clobbered In Weak Sequel Against Braves

China's Once Undisputed Business Gateway Now Has Competition

Three-judge federal appeals court panel throws into chaos plans to upgrade cell phone service across nation, unanimously finding Federal Communications Commission illegally confiscated bankrupt NextWave Personal Communications's wireless spectrum licenses; rules confiscated licenses, which were re-auctioned in Jan and won mostly by well-known companies like Verizon Wireless and business partners of AT& T Wireless and Cingular, belong to NextWave; winners face either further litigation or potentially costly negotiated settlements, while government may never get all of some $16 billion bid for licenses; auction had been hailed by winners as key to their plans to expand territories and supplement existing service (M)

U.S. COURT UPENDS PLANS TO IMPROVE CELLULAR SERVICE

Dime Bancorp is in talks to be acquired by Washington Mutual Inc, nation's largest savings and loan; deal would be victory for chief executive Lawrence J Toal, who fought lower offer from North Fork Bancorp last year; Dime's share price has more than doubled in year under chairman Anthony P Terracciano, who was brought in to help sell bank on more favorable terms (M)

S.& L. Giant Is Reported to Be Suitor of Dime of New York

Merck & Co warns profits for second quarter and year will be lower than expected, citing sluggish sales of arthritis painkiller Vioxx; Merck stock punges on warning (M)

Sales Sluggish For Key Drug From Merck

Brooklynites look forward to opening of minor league baseball stadium in Coney Island and debut of Cyclones, even if many members of Brooklyn Dodger generation harbor mixed feelings about second coming of professional baseball in borough; photo (M)

Not Dodgers II, but It's Baseball; The Game Is Back in Brooklyn, on a Smaller Scale

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will seek a Pentagon budget for next year of $329 billion, $18.4 billion above what President Bush proposed in February and $33 billion over President Clinton's last defense budget. Republicans in Congress called the request insufficient and Democrats called it unreasonable.    Mr. Rumsfeld had originally asked the White House for substantially more money and the final figure, which officials said would be presented to Congress next week, was certain to disappoint senior military officers who had thought President Bush would approve an even larger increase.  

Bigger Rise Is Sought In Military Spending

Emergency all-party talks among Northern Ireland's fractious politicians fail amid growing view that Irish Republican Army must take some action on disarmament to salvage power-sharing government; breakdown follows two nights of rioting between Protestants and Catholics; Sinn Fein, IRA's political wing, reiterates its defiance despite remarkable calls for disarmament from ranking Catholic leaders and Irish newspapers that have never before singled out IRA or Sinn Fein for blame; photo (M)6

Talks on Future Of Government In Ulster Falter

 Dime Savings in Talks  The parent of Dime Savings Bank is negotiating a sale to the largest savings and loan, Washington Mutual, for about $5 billion.   PAGE C1    Ultimatum on Cathedral Art  A minister at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine ordered that a work in the baptistry be altered or removed.   ARTS & IDEAS, PAGE B7

INSIDE

Sports of The Times column reports that only sign of crackle that normally accompanies Atlanta Braves visit to New York Mets is pair of bomb-sniffing dogs making their way through Atlanta clubhouse; photo of John Rocker, now traded to Cleveland (M)

Sports of The Times; No Rocker, No Bombs, No Contest

 COMING ON SUNDAY: LESSONS OF THE HEART    Why women are blas&#233; about heart disease, their No. 1 killer, and what they can do to keep it at bay, by Denise Grady. And Dan Barry recounts the different stories of three men living with heart disease. Two special sections: Women's Health and Men & Health  

Editors' Note

 Appeals Court Rules F.C.C. Illegally Seized Licenses  A federal appeals court threw into chaos plans to upgrade cell phone service across the country when it found that the Federal Communications Commission had illegally confiscated the wireless spectrum licenses of NextWave Personal Communications, which lost them when it went into bankruptcy.    The court's decision clouds the landscape in the battle among the nation's largest telecommunications companies for valuable licenses that are necessary both for expanding cell phone service and offering new wireless Internet products. [Page A1.]    Merck Helps Drag the Dow Down 1%  The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 110.84 points, or 1 percent, to 10,604.59, pulled down by Merck, which issued a profit warning. Merck contributed 40 percent of the decline in the Dow, as it lost $6.67, to $67.80. The Nasdaq composite index fell 23.92 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,034.84. The broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 11.69 points, or nearly 1 percent, at 1,225.35. [C3.]    W.T.O. Panel Rules Against U.S.  A World Trade Organization dispute panel has ruled that a United States tax subsidy for businesses violated international trade rules. The interim ruling in favor of the European Union may result in Europe's imposing $4 billion in sanctions against the United States. [C2.]    Duke Energy Employees Testify  Three employees of a power plant operated by Duke Energy told California legislators that the plant was deliberately run inefficiently, in a way that they said was consistent with efforts to manipulate supply and drive up energy prices. [A7.]    A Warning on Money Laundering  The major industrial nations warned Russia and two other countries that they would face restrictions on their dealings with international banks if they did not make quick progress in clamping down on money laundering. A task force set up by the United States and 28 other countries said Russia, the Philippines and the Pacific island nation of Nauru had done little in the last year to halt flows of illegally made money through their financial systems. [A6.]    Effort to Raise Cars' Fuel Economy  Republican leaders in Congress have softened their opposition to higher fuel economy standards for automobiles, raising the possibility that the government could require automakers to improve the efficiency of cars and light trucks for the first time in seven years. [A8.]    Sara Lee Pleads Guilty to Charges  Sara Lee pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges that it produced and distributed tainted meat that sickened scores of consumers and was linked to about 15 deaths. The company agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle civil and criminal charges brought after a 1998 nationwide recall of deli meats and hot dogs. The company, led by Steve McMillan, above, its chief executive, said the settlement was a final chapter in the case that caused Sara Lee to recall meat, close factory lines and renovate plants. [A9.]    Delay for Schering-Plough Drug  The Food and Drug Administration has found more problems with manufacturing practices at Schering-Plough's four factories, further delaying the release of Clarinex, successor to Claritin, its profitable allergy drug. [C3.]    U.S. Limits Cranberry Crop  The Agriculture Department imposed the strictest limits on the nation's cranberry crop in at least 30 years, to reduce a surplus. [C4.]    German Business Confidence Falls  German business confidence fell to a two-year low in May, to 90.9 points, according to a monthly survey of 7,000 companies. [C2.]  

BUSINESS DIGEST

Russell Archambault, 24-year-old Lakota Sioux basketball player, discusses his struggle to escape dire social conditions into which he was born on reservation and overcome stereotypes about Indian athletes; interview; photos; he was dismissed from University of Minnesota team for violating rules, but is now at Huron University (M)

Fleeing Stereotype, Seeking Stardom; Sioux Took a Dream and Left the Reservation

Democratic and Republican Parties, anxious for control of Senate, are seeking to recruit strongest candidates to run in 2002; task is especially difficult because most of candidates will face incumbents with deep political roots; Democrats have 20 Republican seats to attack, while Republicans will challenge 14 Democrats; parties seek either experienced state officeholders like Oregon Gov John Kitzhaber, Democrat, or politically inexperienced but wealthy candidates, like Jack Ryan, Illinois Republican, who can provide much of their own campaign budget; Kitzhaber and Ryan comment, interviews; photos (M)

Two Parties on the Prowl To Claim the Senate in '02

Number of apple growers in Ulster County, NY, second largest apple-producing county in state that is second to Washington in apple output, are selling land to developers after several years of losing money in depressed market; are taking advantage of surburban sprawl to stave off financial ruin; note state program that helps counties buy development rights from farmers has yet to produce any accords that would keep Ulster land in agriculture; photos (M)

Where Apples Don't Pay, Developers Will

Local Issues Prodded Republicans In House Votes Against Drilling

Long, rough road lies ahead for casino gambling in Niagara Falls and Buffalo even after George E Pataki wins New York State Senate approval of bill giving him carte blanche to negotiate casino deal with Seneca Nation; obstacles remain in Assembly, among Senecas and in courts (M)

Senate Vote Is Just a Step To a Deal For Casinos

Clyde Haberman column on Michael R Bloomberg's suggestion that he might cut back on daily press conferences if elected mayor of New York; says his comment that City Hall press corps could be relocated to Staten Island may not sit too well with Republican faithful there (M)

The Reporters Who Call Him Call Him Boss

Weather clears at Buick Classic; leader board remains crowded as second-round play resumes; photos (S)iger Woods (S)

Leaders Are Bunched at Buick Classic

''Not everybody wants to be a United States senator when you look at the financial constraints and the exposure implications and the family consequences. There is not a huge pool.''    MITCH BAINWOL, of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. [A1]

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

Survivors of two fatal train wrecks during Gerald Corbett's tenure as Britain's Railtrack chief executive and labor union leaders score his $1.4 million severance package, holding it rewards failure; photo (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Railtrack Severance Deal

World Trade Organization dispute panel finds United States tax subsidy for businesses violates trade rules; ruling in favor of European Union may result in Europe's imposing $4 billion in sanctions; at issue is foreign sales corporation program, which partially exempts from taxes profits offshore units of American companies earn from sales of certain goods (M)

U.S. Loses a Trade Dispute With Europe

The 2001 southern Peru earthquake occurred at 20:33:15 UTC on June 23 with a moment magnitude of 8.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). The quake affected the Peruvian regions of Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna. It was the most devastating earthquake in Peru since the catastrophic 1970 Ancash earthquake and globally the largest earthquake since the 1965 Rat Islands earthquake.

The 8.4 Mw  southern Peru earthquake shakes coastal Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami followed, leaving at least 74 people dead, and 2,687 injured.

June 23, 2001

Headlines from June 23, 2001

In Reversal, Rowland Vetoes Bill to Cut Emissions at 6 Power Plants

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: Israel Raises Its Glass To Desalination; Water, Water Everywhere Just Waiting For Price to Drop

As G.O.P. Race Goes to Wire, Many New Jerseyans Yawn

Mets Clobbered In Weak Sequel Against Braves

China's Once Undisputed Business Gateway Now Has Competition

Billboard 200

Break The Cycle

Amnesiac

Free City

Moulin Rouge

Survivor

Historical Events

Historical Context for June 23, 2001