March 7, 2002

Hynix Semiconductor reports operating profit for January and February as result of rising prices worldwide for memory chips; company lost record $3.8 billion last year but expects net profit for first quarter 2002; Hynix chairman Park Chong Sup leaves for another round of talks with Micron Technologies, which wants to take over company's memory chip operations (S)

Commanders call in more American troops and helicopters to counter attempts by Taliban and Al Qaeda to bolster Islamic fighters struggling to hold on to their mountaintop redoubts; 300 more troops are called to battle, for total of 1,200 American combat soldiers; 21 more helicopters are also added; American and Afghan commanders say up to 500 new fighters have joined Taliban and Qaeda force of 200 men; there is growing sense that battle could be climactic moment of conflict that may decide whether Taliban and Al Qaeda meet their end as fighting force in Afghanistan; American commanders say US-led bombing attacks and ground assaults may have already killed as many as 400 hostile fighters of total of 800; photos; map; chart (L)

World Business Briefing Feb 28 report about talks between Credit Lyonnais and Justice Department concerning possible criminal charges related to bank's acquisition of bond portfolio belonging to Executive Life, failed California insurer, misstated status of talks; no agreement has been reached for bank to avoid prosecution and pay fine; premature reports of agreement, which first appeared in Le Monde, have complicated bank's efforts to reach settlement (M)

Volkswagen AG introduces Bentley GT auto, first all-new Bentley since Volkswagen AG took over Roll-Royce Motor Cars three years ago, at Geneva auto show; Volkswagen is hoping new car, which will go on sale in late 2002 for about $150,000, can eventually quadruple Bentley sales from 2,000 cars per year to more than 8,000; BMW, which will get rights to Rolls-Royce name starting in January, has developed muscular new Rolls; DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes is about to bring out Maybach, limousine that will sell for more than $300,000; acquisition of Bentley is part of Volkswagen's broad assault on superluxury market; other components are Lamborghini, Italian sports-car manufacturer that produces only few hundred cars per year, and Bugatti; photos (M)

Appeals Court grants temporary stay of sentence to petty thief sentenced to 10 months of home detention with no TV; Judge Alvin K Hellerstein of Manhattan, in sentencing Edward Bello, said he wanted Bello to think about his long string of arrests and his punishment in quiet periods; Bello's lawyers maintain that depriving Bello of television violates his First Amendment rights and cuts him off from important news events; Bello says he is grateful that Judge Hellerstein allowed him to stay out of prison but that television is vital part of his life; photo (M)

F.T.C. Clears Acquisition Of Compaq by Hewlett The Federal Trade Commission unanimously approved Hewlett-Packard's deal to acquire Compaq Computer. The move, while expected, paved the way for a tightly contested vote of Hewlett-Packard's shareholders on March 19. The F.T.C. said it ''did not find reason to believe that the proposed transaction would impair competition in any relevant market,'' and did not ask for concessions. [Page C4.] US Airways Appoints a Chief US Airways, which like many other airlines has had financial troubles since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said it had hired David N. Siegel, 40, left, a former executive at Continental Airlines and chairman of Avis, as president and chief executive. He succeeds Stephen M. Wolf, who reassumed the post after Rakesh Gangwal resigned in November. [C4.]

Restoration of Philipsburgh Hall, once-decrepit 1905 landmark in Yonkers' downtown waterfront district, is aimed at providing studio apartments for artists, with hope that shops and restaurants will follow in revitalizing desolate area; Maya Lin designs new bakery for area; bakery, in turn, supports restoration of Philipsburgh Hall; photos (M)

Prospects for Conseco Inc dim as chief financial officer Chuck Chokel abruptly resigns and Moody's Investors Service warns that company might not be generating enough cash to meet its obligations; president Bill Shea will be chief financial officer until position is filled permanently (M)

Personal writings attributed to Malcolm X are up for auction in San Francisco and on eBay, infuriating his family and alarming scholars who worry that material could disappear into private hands; documents are of incalculable historical value if authentic; they are to be sold on Mar 20; they include vast trove of letters, photographs, diaries, handwritten drafts of speeches and Malcolm X's personal Koran; archive is expected to bring in up to $500,000; Joseph Fleming, lawyer representing several of Malcolm X's daughters, is pursuing legal injunction in California to prevent simultaneous land and on-line auctions from taking place; there remains mystery of where apparent windfall comes from; Fleming says he traced documents to storage center in Fla; declines to say who rented space there; scholars say material, particularly four spiral-bound notebooks described as Malcolm X's journals during two pilgrimages to Africa in 1964, could shed light on his final year, when he broke with Nation of Islam, renounced racial separatism, endorsed possibility of brotherhood between blacks and whites and founded Orgn of Afro-American Unity to promote political justice for blacks of all faiths; photos (L)

Computer game companies search for ways to get more online gamers to play longer, and to pay for privilege; Jupiter Media Metrix, research form, says nearly 50 percent of Internet users play games, but so far most casual games are free; companies seeking to develop games that more casual players will be willing to pay for say they need more compelling content than typical simple online version of board or racing game; phtos; chart (M)

Waterford Wedgwood announces 50 percent decline in annual profit, to 41.3 million euros ($36.1 million) for 2001; revenue remained just above 1 billion euros for second consecutive year, to 1.01 billion euros ($885 million); graph (S)

Interviews with three British directors who are working on Broadway at same time: Richard Eyre on revival of The Crucible, Nicholas Hytner on new musical Sweet Smell of Sucess and Trevor Nunn on remounting of British production of Oklahoma!; all offer enthusiasm for American theater and comment on their past and future roles with London's Royal National Theater; photos (M)