July 14, 2001

Article discusses possibility of opening casino on New York side of Niagara Falls, but longtime residents are skeptical that gambling will cure city's economic malaise; jobs continue to disappear as industry in area declines; photo (M)

Umpires reportedly are outraged over instructions from Major League Baseball official Sandy Alderson to cut number of pitches per game by calling more strikes; Alderson sees reaction as misunderstanding or linked to union dispute among umpires (M)

International Olympic Committee awards 2008 Summer Games to Beijing; delegates say China, world's most populous country, deserves to stage world's most extravagant sporting evening; express hope that seven-year buildup to 2008 Games will accelerate openness in China and facilitate improvement in its record on human rights; table of voting on two ballots; photo (M)

Mokhtar Haouari is found guilty of conspiracy in plot to set off bomb at Los Angeles International Airport; provided false identification to Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested at Canadian border with explosives in his car (M)

Companies are increasingly taking legal action against former suitors because of failures of proposed mergers; are concerned about plunging market values, and are buoyed by recent success of IBP Inc, which forced Tyson Foods to fulfill merger agreement after Tyson attempted to walk away; Harvard Prof John C Coates says lawsuits are artifact of incredibly high volume and incredibly large size of deals done in last five years; litigation surrounding failed merger between Honeywell International and General Electric discussed; photos; graph (M)