November 30, 2002

Residents with dementia at Hebrew Home for Aged in Riverdale to have special candle lighting celebration in home's synagogue; for three years, Hebrew Home has been conducting dual services in its synagogue on certain Jewish holidays, one for its lucid residents and one for residents with dementia; photo (M)

Stock of United Airlines' parent company, UAL Corp, loses nearly third of its value and company's credit rating is cut as financial markets grow increasingly doubtful that carrier will be able to stay out of bankruptcy court; UAL does not plan to seek bankruptcy protection immediately, however, and it is continuing to try to secure concessions from its workers and loan guarantees from government, participants in airline's restructuring effort say; company plans to take advantage of 10-day grace period on crucial debt repayment of $375 million (M)

North Carolina defeats Stanford, 74-57, in college basketball to win preseason NIT tournament; photo (M)

American Law Institute, influential group of lawyers and judges, calls for sweeping changes in family law that would increase alimony and property rights for many divorced women, while extending such rights for first time to many cohabiting domestic partners, both heterosexual and gay; seeks to update family law to reflect changes in society over last 30 years and to make it more predictable and consistent; holds spouse's adultery should not affect judge's decision about alimony or marital property; holds parent's sexual orientation should not be factor in child custody decisions; group's findings are likely to have major impact; proposals, circulated among state officials in recent weeks, have touched off furor among conservatives, who hold they are biased against marriage (M)

Disrupting terrorist attacks is becoming even more daunting as terrorist increasingly attack 'soft' targets like Israeli-owned Mombasa, Kenya, resort; at issue is deciding where to focus security and intelligence resources if enemy is able to strike almost anywhere; intelligence officials around world say they have become much more aggressive in collecting and distributing intelligence tips, even about unlikely threats; Australian officials say they got reports two weeks ago about threat in Mombasa, leading them to urge citizens not to go there; say all such data is automatically passed to United States; American officials say they were unaware of any credible and specific data that could have predicted attacks on hotel and on Israeli plane (M)

Israeli Air Force planes brings back from Mombasa, Kenya, 258 Israelis tourists traumatized by bombing of Israeli-owned hotel; also brings back coffins of three killed in blast; many passengers had traveled to Kenya for relief from Palestinian violence; photos (M)m

Technology Stocks Lead A Year-End Rally on Wall St. The Nasdaq composite index, which includes many technology stocks, has rallied from its low of 1,114.11 on Oct. 9 and is leading a year-end rally that looks a lot like last year's. And as the last month of 2002 begins, the question is whether the rally will last long enough to make a major dent in the market's losses for the year. The Nasdaq composite dropped 9.16 points yesterday, to 1,478.78, but rose 0.7 percent for the week, its third consecutive weekly gain. The Nasdaq's loss for the year is 24.2 percent, compared with 42.9 percent on Oct. 9. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 35.59 points, or 0.4 percent, to 8,896.09, but still finished up for the eighth consecutive week. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index slipped 2.56 points, or 0.3 percent, to 936.31, but was up 0.6 percent for the week. [Page C4.]

Political fortunes of US Repr Charles B Rangel, Harlem Democrat, are seen unraveling along with his party's defeats in November elections; Democrats fail to win control of Congress, erasing Rangel's hope of becoming Ways and Means Committee chmn, and H Carl McCall, Democratic candidate for New York governor, is pummeled by Gov Pataki, ending Rangel's hope of extending his political influence into Albany; defeat of Fernando Ferrer, Rangel's choice for mayor, marks collapse of years of arm-twisting and maneuvering that Rangel had undertaken in hopes of extending his reach into City Hall; photo (M)

Scott Blum, dot-com entrepreneur who founded Buy.com, plans late-night television show, BuyTV, which will peddle products; photos; graph; table shows visitors to various online retailers (M)

Kenyan police sweep through Mombasa seeking clues to who was behind bombing that killed 13 people at Israeli-owned hotel and missile attack that narrowly missed downing crowded Israeli jetliner; detain dozen foreigners; American Embassy sends team of legal experts to help with probe; US officials are unsure who was responsible for attacks; say early signs point to either Al Qaeda or Al Ittihad al Islamiya, Somali terrorist group believed linked to Al Qaeda; Kenya's leaders vow to step up security around tourist sites and hunt down terrorists; Pres Daniel Arap Moi, visiting hotel, pleads with foreign tourists not to avoid Kenya; Israeli investigators probe rubble while local police mostly stand by; armed Israeli commandos escort some 235 Israelis, including 18 seriously wounded, to Israeli Air Force plane for evacuation; death toll rises to 16, including bombers, as rescue workers discover body of another Kenyan; map; photo (M)

New Fairfield

Colombia Olive Branch A violent rightist paramilitary force said it would call a cease-fire as a first step toward peace talks with the government. PAGE A4 United Airlines Stock Falls Shares of United Airlines' parent company fell sharply on doubts that the carrier would be able to stave off bankruptcy. PAGE C1