July 18, 2001

Investigators believe hourlong spasm of violent crime in which pack of armed young men rampaged through crowd of young revelers, Asbury Park, NJ, snatching jewelry, assaulting women and carjacking vehicles, was largely planned; three men were shot, including critically injured man shot by off-duty police officer after pointing his weapon at officer, and over dozen people arrested; incident follows disturbances that have marred similar youth gatherings along East Coast; event, previously coda to Philadelphia gathering of African-American fraternity and sorority members, had no connection to past festivals, was unorganized and left some participants restive; photo (M)

India and Pakistan, longtime foes, emerged from two days of talks without even a joint news release to show for it. Yet ministers from both countries said that the meeting had not failed, but had helped them better understand each other. Article, Page A7.

Slater & Gordon, Australian law firm, begins legal prodeeding against country's aviation authority and Qantas Airways, British Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on behalf of passengers who contend that they developed blood clots and related complications on long flights; action, believed to be first, involves three passengers with deep-vein thrombosis (M)

Matthew Purdy Our Towns column on suit challenging Connecticut practice of strip-searching all juveniles in detention, regardless of severity of crime; notes state exempts some adults from strip-searches and most other places are sparing about strip-searching children (M)

Matsuzaka beef, one of Japan's best-kept secrets, is coming to rival Kobe beef as country's finest beef; cattle are raised in tiny town of Matsuzaka; only 2,500 Matsuzaka cows are slaughtered each year, and beef commands prices as high as Kobe's--up to $60 a pound; all Japanese Japanese beef is banned from US because of outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in southern Japan; photos; map (L)

Miami Police Department is under intense scrutiny by federal prosecutors and internal investigators over accusations of abuse, corruption and cover-ups; Chief Raul Martinez has dismisssed veteran officer for allegedly planting gun at scene of 1997 shooting of homeless man, and federal grand jury has indicted five officers of obstruction of justice charges in 1996 shooting death; Martinez, US Atty Guy Lewis and Florida state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle are involved in continuing probes; photos (M)

F.B.I. Property Missing An F.B.I. inventory has found that 449 firearms and 184 laptop computers, including one containing classified data, are missing, bureau officials said. PAGE A14

US and Mexican officials say that after five years of failure, they have created trusted group of undercover Mexican investigators who are arresting long-sought drug suspects and attacking drug cartels instead of selling out to them; photos; never-ending river of cocaine and heroin still flows north and drug barons are still using profits to corrupt Mexican law enforcement, but new 117-member unit is now working with DEA; Joseph Keefe of DEA says new unit, each member rigorously checked in both nations, is new way of doing business, with Americans more confident about sharing information; Jose Santiago Vasconcelos, who oversees special unit, agrees (M)

Intel Corp reports 76 percent decline in earnings in second quarter from year earlier; earnings were $854 million on revenue of $6.3 billion (Market Place column) (M)

General Motors Corp says net income for second quarter dropped 73 percent from year earlier, to $477 million; revenue fell 5.3 percent, to $46.1 billion (M)

Dolan DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory offers summer program to train new generation of teachers about dramatic shifts in biology, preparing them to initiate students into rapidly changing mysteries of molecular genetics; such programs respond in part to new stress on standards and testing; participants comment; photos (M)

Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), who barely escaped alive in the first "Jurassic Park," returns in this film. He's the leader of an expedition that crash-lands on the dinosaurs' island, putting everyone at the mercy of the park's denizens. Even though this sequel ticks off all the conventions, the movie dashes like a one-track-mind raptor. It's speedy, light on its feet and louder than bombs; it's also a lot more fun than the previous "Park" excursions. Much of the talent behind the cameras has done survival-of-the-fittest films before (Joe Johnston's filmography includes "Jumanji"). And they seem determined to check off all the to-do notes necessary for a prehistoric exploitation picture: we're missing only Raquel Welch in a yummy fur bikini. — Elvis Mitchell