August 2, 2002

New York City officials consider sweeping plan to change codes that govern how all high-rise buildings are protected against fire and structural damage and how they are evacuated in emergency; plan is one of first clear signs that fiery collapse of World Trade Center is going to transform construction and operation of high-rises around nation; possible changes would be among city's most comprehensive in three decades; changes are proposed by task force of building and fire officials, real estate leaders, engineers and construction executives; great loss of life in World Trade Center disaster is creating impetus for initial wave of changes that safety experts have long supported; task force's ideas will be aired in daylong public hearing on Aug 13; goal is to have completed plan ready by end of year, for swift consideration by City Council and Mayor Michael R Bloomberg; diagram illustrating suggested changes (M)

Barclays reports first-half profit fall by almost 6 percet as bank sets aside money for bad loans, particularly in Argentina; says net income slid to 1.23 billion pounds ($1.92 billion) (S)

Bayer does not expect to demand to recover for chemicals and plastics this year after profit drops 48 percent in second quarter; company's profit falls to 293 million euros ($288 million) (S)

Air Canada reports second-quarter profit of 30 million Canadian dollars ($18.8 million), or 23 cents a share (S)

Havens article on Basalt (Colo), Cathedral City (Calif), Hampton Bays (NY), Saugerties (NY) and Stuart (Fla), border towns that offer less expensive living alternatives than their more expensive and well known neighbors; photos (M)

Yonkers school district plans to lay off 112 educators and 46 other district employees as part of sweeping cost-cutting program that would also eliminate bus transportation for high-school students and various extra-curricular activities (M)

South Korea's stock market, even as markets in Europe and Americas continue to slump, proves to be remarkable resilient; since hitting low in September, Seoul market's benchmark index has risen 50 percent; it remains 2 percent up for year--outperforming most major Asian markets and exceeding by far markets in United States and Europe; Korean economy demonstrates its relience with sharp increase in exports; exports for July rose nearly 20 percent, to $13.65 billion; graph (M)

Julie Salamon reviews A&E movie Armadillo, directed by Howard Davies and starring James Frain; photo (M)

Black market dealers in Florida sell sea turtle eggs snatched from nests of endangered species; eggs are considered delicacy or aphrodisiac in Florida's ethnic neighborhoods of people from Caribbean and Latin American countries; federally protected turtles that lay these eggs make their nests almost exclusively in southeast Florida; experts estimate that during May-through-October nesting season, endangered leatherback turtles dig 1,000 nests on Florida beaches, while green turtle, another endangered species, establishes 8,000 nests; loggerhead turtle, listed as threatened, digs 60,000 nests; single nest can contain more than 100 eggs; Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that poaching from nests along 100 miles of beaches may be occurring at rate of tens of thousands of eggs a year; photos; map (M)

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Treasury Sec Paul H O'Neill, who has suggested that he would oppose new financial aid for battered South American economies, signals willingness to back bailout plans for two of hardest-hit nations, Brazil and Uruguay; pointedly leaves out a third, Argentina (M)

Hetty A Fox, who has put more than 30 years into saving her block, Lyman Place, in South Bronx, now must contend with New York City's plan to demolish garage behind her house, garage that she had hoped to use as media center for neighborhood children; city is tearing down garage in response to neighbors' complaints about abandoned buildings; photo (M)