January 3, 2003

China's total trade volume reached $620 billion last year, 21 percent increase from 2001 (S)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has doubled number of investigators and increased budget of New York City's Human Rights Commission, civil rights enforcement agency that lost strength under Giuliani administration; Bloomberg appoints former prosecutor Patricia L Gatling as chairwoman and orders her to shake things up, inviting her to briefing on public safety to show that he views commission as law enforcement agency; commission was subject of scathing report by New York City Bar Assn over 'crippling' budget cuts under Giuliani and failure to fight discrimination; Gatling reports years-old backlog of some 5,000 cases has been pared to under 1,000; reports increasing use of subpoena powers and revamping of offices to have one in each borough, staffed by lawyers (M)

Miami University and Ohio State University, after overcoming months of adversity, will face each other in Fiesta Bowl for national championship (M)

Insurers Pay J.P. Morgan $580 Million to End Dispute J. P. Morgan Chase said that it would receive about $580 million from insurance companies as part of a settlement resolving a dispute sparked by Enron's collapse. The settlement is a partial victory for the bank, which had sought nearly $1 billion and will take a charge of about $400 million to cover the difference. The dispute centered on accusations that J. P. Morgan had defrauded insurers, disguising loans to Enron as commodities trades. The bank contended that the insurance companies were aware of the complex transactions, which later drew the scrutiny of investigators, regulators and shareholders. [Page A1.]

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column contends that newly hired head coach Bill Parcells is perfect match for Dallas Cowboys, as he is particularly capable of helping ailing teams win games they would lose under direction of another coach; photo (M)