February 9, 2002

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column discusses opening ceremony of 2002 Winter Games; comments on controversy about use of tattered flag that was found at World Trade Center site and notes references by Pres Bush and IOC president Jacques Rogge to Sept 11 terrorist attacks; says overall tone of ceremony is warm and hopes congeniality and sportsmanship will remain throughout Games; photo (M)

Pres Bush addresses members of United States Olympic team before opening ceremony of 2002 Winter Games; says it is opportunity for world to see that, in time of war, we can come together in friendly competition; photo (M)

Lay to Appear Next Week Kenneth L. Lay, Enron's ex-chairman, is set to appear before a Senate panel on Tuesday, but he may not answer questions. PAGE C1 Clues to Crash of Flight 587 An inquiry into the jet crash in Queens found that sudden shifts of a plane's rudder can be catastrophic, investigators said. PAGE B1

Proposal to cap percentage of worker's 401(k) holdings that can be invested in worker's own company has stirred debate; Sen Jon S Corzine, cap advocate, holds tax breaks of $70 billion a year for such plans give government right to require participants responsibly diversify holdings; notes employees of many companies have seen much of their savings erased by drops in company stock; corporate executives and Labor Sec Elaine L Chao oppose caps; economists note caps could force stock sales should company's stock price rise sharply (M)

Reaching back more than a decade to find common ground for their countries' future relationship, the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed at a meeting that ''misunderstandings and misperceptions'' of the past should be left behind. Article, Page A8.

Investigation into crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in November 2001 in Belle Harbor section of Queens shows passenger jet can break up in flight if rudder suddenly flips back and forth; government rules on how strong airplane's tail must be do not take those movements into consideration; in some cases, light tap on rudder pedals may be enough to cause damage; if pilot reverses rudder just as plane reaches limit in one direction, movement can overload tail; photo (M)

Sen Byron L Dorgan says he expects Enron Corp former chairman Kenneth L Lay to appear under subpoena and testify before Senate subcommittee probing Enron's collapse; Lay aide says he weighs his options; photo (M)

Sean John Combs, rapper, is now rising star of fashion, and show on Feb 9 will be most extravagant of week's fashion presentations; Sean John label is sold in 1,200 stores across country, with retail revenue of over $200 million in 2001; figures are more impresssive for being derived mostly from his simply styled, medium-priced clothing; Combs makes few claims to being hands-on designer, but he insists he is conceptualist heading design team and arbiter of staff's creative suggestions; photos (M)

Corruption within Philippine military is suspected in failure of siege at hospital on island of Basilan that could well have resulted in capture of entire leadership of Abu Sayyah gang and release of their hostages, including Martin and Gracia Burnham, American missionary couple; Abu Sayyaf leaders escaped with their hostages, except for well-to-do Filipino man and his female companion, who apparently bought their freedom; escape raises questions about whether some soldiers took cut of ransom in exchange for allowing group to leave; it is unclear why army, with 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers, cannot overwhelm Abu Sayyaf force of fewer than 100 on a 20-mile-by-30-mile island; 650 American soldiers are now being sent to help this army; photos (M)

Securities and Exchange Commission probes charges that Global Crossing improperly inflated its revenue; Federal Bureau of Investigation, in unusual move, is also involved in probe of possible accounting wrongdoing; SEC responds to concerns raised by former Global Crossing executive Roy Olofson about complex way revenues were booked; company says it informed its accountants, Arthur Andersen, of his concerns; Andersen says it only learned of his concerns in Jan, months after he first voiced them in letter to company in Aug; photo (M)

Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, Taliban's former foreign minister, surrenders to Afghan authorities in Kandahar and is placed in American custody; was one of few Taliban officials viewed in Washington as moderate, and he met with US officials before Sept 11 on issue of improving relations; after Sept 11, he held secret discussions with Pakistani officials about possibility of handing over Osama bin Laden to Americans; broke with Mullah Muhammad Omar, Taliban leader, when he refused to accept recommendations of Afghan religious council that bin Laden be forced to leave Afghanistan (M)

Nine states oppose government's proposed antitrust settlement with Microsoft, telling court that pact is riddled with flaws and would lock computer users into 'Microsoft-controlled world'; Microsoft holds sweeping sanctions sought by nine states would harm computer industry and consumers (M)