February 25, 2003

As Annika Sorenstam, the world's top female golfer, prepares to play at a stop on the men's tour, she represents an evolution in the aspiration of female athletes. No longer are some elite women content simply with an opportunity to compete, a freedom hard won in the gender struggles of three decades ago. Increasingly, according to athletes, coaches and women's sports activists, women are seeking challenges to explore the full potential of their skills. When Sorenstam plays on the PGA Tour in May at the Colonial tournament in Fort Worth, she will become the latest in a string of women taking on men in sports traditionally separated by gender.

Doctors report that low doses of warfarin, cheap blood-thinning drug, can safely prevent dangerous blood clots in veins of people who are prone to them, and they urge immediate change in treatment for high-risk patients; full dose of drug, also sold as Coumadin, is now halted after three to six months to reduce risk of severe bleeding, and almost third of patients will form another clot within eight years; cutting dose in half after a few months of standard treatment reduces risk of more clots without increasing risk of hemorrhage (M)

British advertising company WPP Group reports declines in revenue and profit for 2002 and remains cautious on outlook for advertising sector in 2003; says net income fell to 25.5 million pounds ($40.4 million) from 219.6 million pounds year earlier; chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell comments; graph (S)

AOL Time Warner, seeking to sell its book publishing division, has elicited interest from Random House, unit of Bertelsmann, and HarperCollins, part of News Corp; all discussions have been preliminary and no terms have been discussed (M)

India's core industries grew 4.1 percent in January; concrete industry grew 9.2 percent; petroleum refining sector rose 9.2 percent, compared with 9.9 percent rise year ago; crude oil sector grew 0.4 percent, compared with 1.4 percent last year (S)