August 9, 2001

New York City Police Commissioner Bernard B Kerik disciplines 17 officers in Brooklyn's 72d Precinct where Officer Joseph Gray is accused of killing four people with his minivan after marathon day of drinking with colleagues to celebrate supervisor's upcoming wedding; Kerik transfers precinct's commander, executive officer, lieutenant and two sergeants, and suspends or places on modified duty two other sergeants and 10 officers; says they drank on department property or visited topless bar that was off limits to officers from precinct; investigators say Gray and co-workers went to topless bar, and hours later his minivan struck and killed 4-year-old boy, his pregnant mother and child's aunt; say Gray ran red light, apparently en route to pick up colleague to return to work late shift; Kerik said to be livid over what he perceives to be lax supervison in precinct; Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani says officers being disciplined send message that drinking and being police officer is dangerous combination; photos (M)

Bruce Museum of Arts and Science in Greenwich, Conn, will exhibit black-and-white photographs of Werner Bischof, The Compassionate Lens: Photographs of Werner Bischof 1945-1954; Kenny Rogers, country musaic singer, will perform at Seaside-Asser Levy Park in Brooklyn on August 9in Seaside Summer Concert Series; photo; PS 1 Contemporary Art Center will present 'Made in the Shade, a Day for Families,' its third annual community day on August 12; Museum of the City of New York will stage Lost New York in Old Postcards, exhibit of 170 hand-colored postcards from turn of 20th century to mid-1950's; photo (M)

Elvis Mitchell's Critic's Notebook column appraises 'Latin Beat!: 2001,' third annual roundup of films from Latin countries assembled by Film Society of Lincoln Center; photo (M)

Market Place column on return of big hostile takeover in less aggressive, less expensive form, called bear hug; many unsolicited offers are being made to companies' managements, instead of directly to shareholders, but in very public way; bidders use publicity to apply pressure to company's board; risk spurring rival bids (M)

Peter Marks appraises offerings at fifth annual New York International Fringe Festival in Manhattan, which opens on August 10; photos (M)

Pres Mohammad Khatami, delivering inaugural address for his second term, vows to enact reforms clearly demanded by Iranian voters and warns formidable opponents that failure would reflect badly on very idea of Islamic government; Khatami garnered 77 percent of vote in June against nine mostly conservative opponents; Khatami, in theory second-most-powerful figure in country after supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, admonishes that hardening of factional positions risks alienating public from their faith; challenges he and his reformist allies face are in clear evidence; his inauguration itself was delayed for three days because of dispute between reformers and conservatives, and conservative judiciary shuts down another reformist newspaper; photo (M)

Comr Paul Tagliabue warns National Football League might use replacement referees if new contract accord is not reached soon with referees' union, interview; cites concern about possible strike, noting sides are very far apart; talks, which began in July 2000, are set to resume; table of duties performed by seven officials during NFL game (M)

Aetna reports second-quarter operating loss of $95.9 million, compared with year-earlier operating profit of $36.4 million; predicts losses will continue into next year; puts net income, including one-time gains and charges, at $10.6 million, down from $186.6 million; photo (M)

Chronic labor shortage in Netherlands is limiting nation's striking economic success and spurring inflation; labor squeeze exists in almost every category; problem, which comes while much of Europe grapples with high unemployment and sluggish growth, underlines major challenges Europe faces in push to reshape itself as borderless economic powerhouse with uniform monetary policy despite varying economic needs; graphs of Dutch and European unemployment and inflation; photos (M)

Political Memo column on Hank Morris, who has invested City Comptroller Alan G Hevesi's mayoral campaign with credibility and endurance it might otherwise not have attained, but who now seems to be eclipsing the candidate amid controversy over Morris's donating his services as political consultant (M)

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom plans expansion into China spurred by Russia's new friendship treaty with China; has been asked to bid on $6 billion pipeline project and weighs building own pipelines to sell Siberian gas in Shanghai and Japan (M)

Britain faces likelihood of shutting down power-sharing Northern Ireland government to preserve it, as hopes of breakthrough in stalemated peace negotiations fade; impasse over guerrilla weapons remains block to progress, with no evidence that Irish Republican Army is ready to begin to disarm; Gerry Adams, president of IRA's political arm, Sinn Fein, seemingly confirms that IRA is unprepared to make any further weapons moves now, even after expectations had been raised by international commission responsibile for supervising paramilitary group disarmament that there would be movement; options facing Britain's Northern Ireland secretary, John Reid, are calling new elections for 108-member assembly or suspending legislature and restoring direct rule of province from London (M)