May 25, 2002

Pakistan risks setting off new crisis with India by beginning series of missile tests; Pakistani government denies any provocative intent, and Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman dismisses 'missile antics' that she says are targeted at domestic audience in Pakistan; United States says it is 'disappointed' by Pakistan's decision to test missiles, coming day after Pakistan said it would move troops toward India; State Dept issues warning to Americans to defer travel to India and Pakistan because of risk of war; even with Pakistani decision, tensions appear to have lessened; Indian government officials say they will give Pakistan more time, perhaps few weeks, to demonstrate its commitment to stopping infiltration of armed militants into India's side of Kashmir before undertaking any punitive military strikes; photo; map (M)

The boos started descending from the stands with about two minutes left in the third quarter, with the deficit at 24 points and the home team looking oddly disheveled. The public address announcer referred to them as the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers before Game 3, but there was little to back up that claim tonight. Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and the standard-bearers for basketball excellence over the last three years were almost blown out on their own floor, embarrassed by a team that was hungrier and healthier.

For seven innings last night at Shea Stadium, the Mets' offense consisted of half swings, checked swings and half-hearted swings. In other words, more of the same. But the Mets' hitters finally calmed down in the eighth inning, and good things began to happen. Jeromy Burnitz clubbed a two-run homer to give the Mets a 4-3 lead over Florida. Tim Raines, 42, hit a game-tying pinch-homer off Armando Benitez in the top of the ninth, but Jay Payton drew a bases-loaded walk to force home Roberto Alomar in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Mets edged the Marlins, 5-4.

Bush administration moves to gather documents from almost 2,000 staff members about their contacts with Enron Corp in effort to avert legal confrontation with Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which has issued subpoenas seeking information; directive applies to staff of Vice Pres Dick Cheney as well; administration officials also say Pres Bush appointed Glenn L McCullough as chairman of Tennessee Valley Authority last year on recommendation of Kenneth L Lay, Enron's former chairman; Craven Crowell, previous TVA chairman, says that he had clash with Lay in February and that Lay had threatened in early 2000 to use his political connections to obtain favorable action from authority; White House on May 22 released summary of contacts with Enron that showed more extensive communications with executives of company than had been previously disclosed; Democrats, including Sen Tom Daschle move to capitalize on disclosures, suggesting that they raised questions about whether White House had misled Congress; administration officials vigorously dispute that (M)

Merrill Lynch & Co's 14,000 brokers are caught in cross-fire as brokerage firm prepares to defend itself in court against angry investors; Merrill still faces lawsuits from customers who contend that they lost money because they were misled by recommendations of firm's analysts; estimates of Merrill's liability in those cases run as high as $5 billion and are weighing heavily on Merrill's stock price, which has dropped nearly 30 percent since April; graph (M)

New details about Rigas family's self-dealings are raising questions about how much Adelphia Communications' accountants and its audit committee knew about--and possibly ignored--conflicts that were created by transactions; in documents filed with Securities and Exchange Commission, Adelphia details dozens of transactions between Rigas family and company, from undisclosed loans that totaled about $130 million to support family-owned Buffalo Sabres hockey team to corporate purchase of 50 cars from Preston Cars, company controlled by Adelphia founder John J Rigas; filing reveals previously undisclosed deals, including one in which family bought for about $500,000 some 3,600 acres of land on which Adelphia had bought timber rights for $26.5 million; company invested $3 million in Songcatcher, film produced by Ellen Rigas Venetis, daughter of John Rigas; NFHLP, partnership owned by Rigas family that owns Buffalo Sabres, withdrew cash from cash fund within company to finance some of its investments in team; one of most significant questions raised by disclosures is why Deloitte & Touche, accountant for both company and family-controlled entities, did not inform Adelphia's audit committee that family was using company's credit lines to buy Adelphia stock (M)

Some educators say there is more at stake in Edison Schools' takeover of 20 public schools in Philadelphia than reputation of its chief executive, H Christopher Whittle, and that failure could put back movement toward private marketplace of school options; many say Whittle has surrounded himself with smart, talented people who do not know enough about business and finance to keep Edison out of trouble; Thomas Toch, writer at National Center on Education and Economy, says Whittle has become standard-bearer for people who believe that private-sector management can transform America's public schools; photo (M)

Federal Court Ruling Is Victory for Regional Bells A federal appeals court ordered regulators to reconsider two important rules intended to spur competition in the local phone and high-speed Internet markets. The decision was a victory for the regional bell companies. While a defeat for the Federal Communications Commission, which was the defendant, the decision was a political victory for its chairman, Michael K. Powell, above, who has expressed skepticism about the rules. [Page C3.]

Amid extraordinary security, the United States soccer team arrived here today to begin preparations for the World Cup. After a 14-hour flight from New York, players and coaches were escorted to a bus at Inchon International Airport through a cordon of 500 national policemen, while eight Korean military SWAT team members stood guard with automatic weapons. Korean security officials said that such an extensive show of force had not been provided for other teams arriving for soccer's global championship, which begins next Friday and runs through June 30 in South Korea and Japan.

Nation's new state homeland security directors say Bush administration's ominous warnings about threat of more terrorist attacks is too vague for them to take any action; say their overburdened agencies already stand at heightened readiness; newly named domestic security chiefs around nation express frustration that warnings from Washington lack details about location or industry that would make them useful; some say they suspect that latest highly publicized threats seem like attempt to deflect questions from missed signals on Sept 11; new state-based domestic security bureaucracy that has been built since Sept 11 rests largely on backs of established agencies, with police, military and emergency management officials simply adding titles and responsibilities to already full portfolios; facing budget deficits, most states are waiting for infusion of federal money from antiterrorism packages before they fill new positions; many states are scaling back heightened security measures put in place after Sept 11; photos (M)

A senior F.B.I. agent in Minneapolis has accused a supervisor at the agency's headquarters of altering a report about Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, in a way that stymied efforts to obtain crucial evidence in the case before the Sept. 11 attacks, government officials said. The agent said in a letter to Congressional investigators that the changes in the search warrant application made it all but impossible to convince the F.B.I.'s national security lawyers to pursue court authorization for the search.

National Park Service activates face recognition surveillance system in response to warning of possible terrorist attack on Statue of Liberty; system, at Battery Park ferry dock, takes pictures of visitors and compares them with database of terror suspects; photos (M)