June 17, 2004

Air Transportation Stabilization Board could rule as soon as this week on whether to provide United Airlines, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, with $1.6 billion in loan guarantees; efforts of United's chief executive Glenn F Tilton to keep carrier solvent detailed; photos (M)

Dolores Hayden, Yale University professor of architecture, urbanism and American studies, has written book, A Field Guide to Sprawl, that she conceived of as dictionary encompassing 51 varieties of urban sprawl around country; photos (M)

Christine Y Kim, assistant curator at Studio Museum in Harlem, has decorated her Lower East Side loft with eclectic mix of furnishings and works of art; photos (M)

KEY EVIDENCE DISCREDITED -- A meeting often cited as proof of a Qaeda-Iraq link never happened, the commission found. PAGE A14 QUESTIONS FOR BUSH -- The administration is on the defensive over an issue it once expected to be a political plus. NEWS ANALYSIS, PAGE A15

Prices for natural gas, which is used to generate about 15 percent of country's electricity, and heat about two-thirds of American homes, began rising in 2002 and show no signs of going back down; experts offer advice on relatively easy ways to reduce energy use; graph (M)

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column discusses return of David Duval to US Open after injuries prompted him to miss 16 of 20 cuts last year; photo (M)

Iraqi Cleric Orders Militia to Stand Down Moktada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric whose militia has tormented Americans for nearly three months, ordered his fighters to disarm and go home. In Najaf, his loyalists appeared to be heeding the order. But north of Baghdad, two Americans died in an attack. PAGE A12 U.S. Latin Envoy Quits Otto J. Reich, President Bush's special envoy to Latin America, resigned and took with him a lifetime of experience fighting Fidel Castro and other foes of American foreign policy. PAGE A3

Group of plaintiffs' lawyers file civil lawsuits against more than dozen nonprofit hospitals across country, contending that hospitals violated their obligation as charities by overcharging people without insurance and then hounding them for money; complaints name some of largest hospitals in Chicago, Atlanta and Minneapolis metropolitan areas; lawyers are calling for creation of trust that would be financed by hospitals and would provide affordable medical care for those without insurance; hospitals sued include Provena Health of Chicago, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Advocate Health Care Network of Oak Brook, Ill, and Allina Health System of Minneapolis (M)

News analysis on opposition to New York Jets stadium as jeopardizing hard-won compromise on redevelopment of Manhattan's far West Side; warns that long-sought expansion of Jacob Javits convention center, virtually unpposed previously, could be dragged down in uproar; photo of hotel workers union rally in support of plans (M)

Mitsubishi Motors will cut employee salaries and speed up layoffs as it expands recovery plan announced May 21 to deal with sharp drop in vehicle sales in Japan; will over next two years cut executive pay packages by 25 percent to 50 percent, trim salaries of middle managers by 10 percent and lower paychecks of rank-and-file workers by 5 percent; expects cutbacks to reduce costs by $660 million over next two years; chief executive Yoichiro Okazaki comments; photo (M)

Biotechnology company Tercica, which uses technology and patents it bought from Genentech, announces favorable results from clinical trial of human-growth drug rhIGF-1 for abnormally short children; says patients given drug through twice-a-day injections had, on average, grown about inch more per year than they would have without treatment; plans to to use data early next year to seek Food and Drug Administration approval to sell drug in US; growth hormone therapy costs about $20,000 per year, and while pricing has not been set for rhIGF-1, it is expected to be similar; photo (M)

Technology is reshaping Formula One racing; drivers and crew can use computers and wireless networking to analyze elements of car's performance; International Automobile Federation officials are debating whether technology gives edge to wealthiest teams; photos (M)