July 9, 2001

Giant modernist mural painted by Josef Albers, member of Bauhaus school, is removed from lobby of MetLife Building in midtown Manhattan, where it has been fixture since building's construction 37 years ago; sleek abstract work, entitled Manhattan, was painted by Albers on commission from Bauhaus colleague and building's architect Walter Gropius as homage to city to which he immigrated in 1933; MetLife officials say they have no intention of reinstalling it since it impedes efforts to draw in more light and make access more open; spokesman says company would like to find new home for work; says while it is not looking to sell painting, it would not refuse offer; some preservationists and Albers admirers score removal; photo (M)

Microsoft sees appeals court ruling in antitrust case against it upholding its right to bundle Internet services into its flagship Windows operating system; opponents in case disagree with company's interpretation; antitrust experts say decision lays out principles that should be applied in resolving case; say it does not give Microsoft entirely free hand in designing Windows; photo (M)

Venus Williams defeats Justine Henin to win women's singles championship at Wimbledon; photo (M)

Corning, leading maker of optical fiber, and handful of other companies and academic labs seek to develop new hollow-core fiber with far greater information-carrying capacity than today's designs despite current deep slump in fiber optics; communications industry continues to believe that optical networks are still in early stage of vast expansion; market share graph; diagram; photos (M)

Special report, Protecting the Product, focuses on possible cover-up by W R Grace & Co regarding hazards of Monokote, its asbestos-laced fireproofing spray whose fibers can cause lung cancer; company went from minor player to giant in fireproofing business after announcing research breakthrough in devising 'completely asbestos-free' fireproofing spray used on skeletons of buildings; pursued strategy of silence, even though it knew new product contained tremolite, little-known kind of asbestos; was well aware of hazards but kept knowledge largely hidden from workers who applied fireproofing and clients who wanted buildings asbestos-free; believed contamination from tremolite was comparatively insignificant since much less asbestos made way into new spray than in old product; fought series of other environmental battles from 1970's to late 1980's, even as it maneuvered to keep fireproofing business alive in face of stiffening regulations and rising health concerns; declared bankruptcy in April 2001, citing costs of lawsuits involving products other than Monokote; photos (M)