August 27, 2001

Surgeon General David Satcher issues broad, comprehensive report on mental health-needs of minority groups and obstacles to treatment; says they suffer disproportionate burden of mental illness because they often have less access to services than other Americans, receive lower quality care and are less likely to seek help when in distress; says while serious mental disorders occur in all races, ethnicities and socioeconomic classes, minorities tend to be overrepresented among those most vulnerable and in need of mental health treatment; says because of stigma attached to mental illness in some minority cultures, there is often reluctance to use services even when available; calls for more research in area that has been little studied and for more cultural awareness on part of mental health professionals; recommends increased efforts to address needs of minorities in shaping delivery of services, educating public and integrating mental health treatment with general medical care; report focuses on mental health concerns of African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and Alaska Natives (M)

Hours after an Israeli man from the coastal town of Netanya was shot to death on a little-traveled road north of Tulkarm in the West Bank, the Israeli Army launched reprisal assaults, again bombarding police buildings and highway checkpoints. This time the targets were in Tulkarm and El Bireh, just north of Jerusalem. A Palestinian security officer was reportedly killed. Article, Page A3.

Federal and private experts say missile defense system planned by Bush administration may be least able to destroy warheads from rogue countries thought to pose biggest threat; nations like North Korea, Iran and Iraq would fire wobbling, rudimentary warheads during attack, which are among hardest to hit; stopping rudimentary missile would be far harder than hitting advanced warheads, which are made to spin like tops or footballs to increase accuracy; crude warhead fired by inexperienced attacker is likely to have no spin stabilization and to gyrate wildly, tumbling end over end and making it harder to track; diagram (M)

Martina Hingis, who is preparing for US Open tennis tournament, struggles to hold onto No. 1 ranking in women's tennis despite not having a major tournament championship since 1999 Australian open; photo (M)

Marathon Men Tiger Woods outlasted Jim Furyk in a seven-hole, sudden-death playoff to win the NEC Invitational -- and the $1 million first prize -- with a birdie on No. 18. SPORTSMONDAY, PAGE D1 Visits for Taliban Prisoners Red Cross officials visited eight aid workers in Afghanistan who were arrested three weeks ago and accused by the Taliban rulers of preaching Christianity. PAGE A4