December 18, 2001

Shares in Nomura Research Institute, unit of Japan's largest brokerage house, Nomura Holdings, and country's largest integrator of computer systems, jump 28 percent on first day of trading; company raises 150 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in share offering (S)

The Detritus of War Mine-clearing is to resume tomorrow in northern Afghanistan, one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. PAGE B1 Raid at Palace in Haiti Commandos apparently intent on ousting Haiti's government stormed the presidential palace but were routed, officials said. PAGE A12

New art museums or additions to existing ones are being planned, built and opened in more than a dozen Southern cities; boom is based partly on desire of many Southerners to bring more fine arts to their communities, and business leaders are supporting many of these projects; some museums have superior collections that are languishing in storage for lack of display space, but directors at some others are still uncertain what they will hang on their new walls; photo; drawings (M)

Group of 100 suburban commuters in New York metropolitan area are participating in experiment of using electric cars as their means of transportation to train stations; drivers lease Ford cars for $199 month and get discounts on their train tickets and free parking and electric hookup at stations; cars have top limit of 56 miles per hour and can go about 50 miles before recharging; photos (M)

John Tierney The Big City column on 'Bud Avenger' as most enduring of urban myths that have sprung up on Internet since Sept 11 terrorist attacks; story goes that truck driver, delivering Budweiser beer to convenience store and finding two Arab clerks celebrating attacks, proceeded to pull from shelves every product his beverage company provided and told them never to expect another delivery; says Bud Avenger is reminder of spontaneous patriotism that was evident right after attacks, before displays of loyalty and preaching about American way became de rigueur (M)

Sun Life Financial Services of Canada agrees to acquire Clarica Life Insurance Co in all-stock deal worth 7.3 billion Canadian dollars, or $4.7 billion; combined group will be biggest Canadian life insurer, with annual revenue of 21.7 billion Canadian dollars, 344 billion Canadian dollars worth of assets under management and sales force of 4,500 (M)

Hundreds of Al Qaeda fighters flee from caves of Tora Bora into snow-capped mountains of Pakistan border, and Osama bin Laden may be among them; United States intelligence officials acknowledge they have lost track of him; also unknown is whereabouts of Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar; anti-Taliban Afghan fighters, accompanied by US Special operations forces, scour caves and tunnels, not only for Al Qaeda stragglers but also for documents, computer disks and any other information; allied forces meet sporadic resistance from pockets of Taliban fighters, thought to be remnants of rear guard that was largely destroyed by American bombing or had fled; Rear Adm John D Stufflebeem says US forces would not pursue fleeing Al Qaeda fighters into Pakistan but would ask Pakistani Army to capture them; anti-Taliban soldiers in Tora Bora put 19 Al Qaeda prisoners on display for news media; 9 of 19 are said to be Arabs; photos; map (M)

Article discusses reaction of NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue to melee that broke out as fans protested overturned call in game against Jacksonville Jaguars; Browns president Carmen Policy comments; photo (M)

Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor raise prices of 128-megabit dynamic random access memory chip 10 percent to 20 percent for second time in month (S)

Lobbyists for special interests find Congress willing to dispense last-minute legislative favors before it adjourns for year, raising questions about proper role of government in weak economy; some Senators object, calling some of proposals special-interest legislation; several factors lead to large number of proposals for aid: Congress is in session later than usual, and events of Sept 11 have galvanized industries into action (M)

Cities around country experience new and sudden wave of homelessness; shelters are overflowing, and more people this year are sleeping on floors in dingy social service centers, living in cars or spending nights on streets; faltering economy that crumbled even further after Sept 11 terrorist attacks results in record levels of homelessness in New York and Boston, and experts say this reflects national trend; more than half cities surveyed by US Conference of Mayors report people remaining homeless longer, an average of six months; increasing proportion of homeless are families with children; requests for shelter from families increases in three-quarters of cities surveyed by mayors' group; in more than half, families are broken up to be accommodated in shelters; photo (M)

Hyundai Motor reaches agreement with workers that is said to include hefty bonuses as well as wage increases (S)