October 22, 2002

Baseballs used in World Series are unofficially found to be harder and smaller than those used in regular season, which some speculate is accounting for record-breaking 11 home runs through two games of World Series; photos (M)

General Motors Corp officials express doubts about achieving their goal of capturing 29 percent of US market for new cars this year despite relentless campaign of incentives; blame Korean and Japanese auto companies, saying they have gained unfair advantage through devalued currencies and marketing actions; Autodata says GM held 28.2 percent of car and light truck sales in US through September, up about one-tenth of percentage point from 2001; GM announces tghat group vice president William J Lovejoy will retire on Dec 31 and will be succeeded by vice president John F Smith; Lovejoy says GM's biggest problem is competing with Korean manufacturers, particularly Hyundai Motor Corp; Hyundai chief executive Finbarr O'Neill says he is surprised that GM is concerned about his company; photo (M)

Vinexpo wine trade show, normally held in Bordeaux, is set to open at Jacob K Javits Convention Center; three-day event is expected to enrich New York City's coffers by $30 million; more than 10,000 industry professionals are expected to attend show, which is closed to public; photo (M)

Mazda Motor Corp will shut factory near Hiroshima and outsource production of its trucks to Press Kogyo Co, Japanese auto parts maker; will reopen another plant near its Hiroshima headquarters to increase car output 14 percent by March 2005 (S)

Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent in period from July to September, compared with 7.6 percent in three-month period through August and 7.8 percent in three-month period through July; personal bankruptcies more than tripled in September compared with year earlier, to 2,580 (S)

China has banned Huang Danian's rice because it depends on altering rice genes to create breed immune to toxic effects of herbicides; China has imposed restrictions on domestic varieties of genetically modified crops and requires lengthy safety tests and cumbersome labeling rules for imports of such foods; go-slow approach reflects rising concerns about food safety, but mainly restrictions are convenient tool for trade protection; China officials fear that small-scale, and therefore relatively inefficient, Chinese farmers cannot compete with food imports from US, many of them genetically modified; officials also think that country's own food exports may suffer in world market if China becomes pioneer in genetically altered foods; China's entry into World Trade Organization earlier in year was supposed to open its markets permanently and make it difficult to manipulate trade in such ways; new rules and regulations governing farm products show that it has not intention of making domestic producers fend for themselves overnight; photo (M)

Police officials confirm that man badly wounded in Ashland, Va, on Oct 19 was latest victim of sniper preying on Washingon region, and they once more reach out directly to mysterious figure they think has intimate knowledge of sniper's deadly spree; say person they are desperately trying to reach, who could be sniper himself, has made his own telephone call to them since note was left at scene of Ashland shooting; Montgomery County, Md, Police Chief Charles A Moose, using televised news conference as channel of direct address to person, says audio was unclear on call and urges that he call back; Moose says he does not doubt credibility of note that started attempted dialogue, but he declines to offer further information; police are resorting to unusual 'dialogue' as their current best hope; photos (M)

American military adopts new strategy in training for attack on Baghdad that will seek to avoid house-to-house combat in its hostile streets; new plan calls for isolating city and taking control of it by seizing or destroying Saddam Hussein's pillars of power with such decisive force that Iraqis' will to fight collapses; commanders say any fighting in Baghdad or other Iraqi cities could result in thousands of American casualties and even more civiilian deaths; they may have no choice should Hussein and his die-hard adherents choose to make Baghdad their last stand; even now Republican Guard units are digging in around Baghdad; new American military strategy described in detail; photos (L)

Subject of race is being de-emphasized in New York gubernatorial contest between Comptroller H Carl McCall and Gov Pataki; photo (M)

Martha Stewart has reportedly been told by Securities and Exchange Commission that it has enough evidence to bring civil complaint against her stemming from her sale of nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Sustems last year; next step is for SEC lawyers to examine formal response filed by Stewart's lawyers and make recommendation to SEC; commission must vote on whether to file complaint and is working with Justice Dept, which may bring criminal action as well; Stewart has been investigated by Congressional committee as well as SEC and Justice Dept for timing of her trading in ImClone; shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, which have fallen more than 60 percent since her name became linked with ImClone in June, drop 15 percent in after-hours trading after news reports of SEC action (M)

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column contends that New York Knicks general manager Scott Layden is alienating himself and New York Knicks fans in disciplining star player Latrell Sprewell with such severity and hostility, as Sprewell is fan favorite and media darling who usually elicits sympathy, deservedly or not; photo (M)

Sherritt International Corp and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, joint owners of Luscar Ltd, Canada's biggest coal producer, bid 1.5 billion Canadian dollars ($958 million) for rival Fording Inc of Calgary, Alberta (S)