August 4, 2004

News analysis on dealing with terrorist alerts in heat of tight presidential campaign; points out that while Sec Tom Ridge dismisses link between latest warning and campaign, he also credited Pres Bush's 'leadership in the war against terror' with gathering information; rival John Kerry may not share that view, but biggest thing Democrats may have to fear this campaign is power of fear itself, as polls show that Bush's handling of terrorism remains his only clear advantage over Kerry in razor-close race; Bush would not be politically canny not to remind public of his strong suit, which is why his convention is in New York, why he has new ads with images of firefighters and the flag, and why he discusses terrorism with gravitas of White House Rose Garden setting; Bush at same time must take pains not to let political tail wag terrorism dog: use of old intelligence leaves even some in law enforcement wondering why Ridge raised alarm just now (M)

Royal Bank of Scotlan

Justice Leland DeGrasse appoints three-member panel to scrutinize state efforts to comply with court order to provide New York City students with sound basic education; panel members, E Leo Milonas, William C Thompson and John D Feerick, will also assess how much class sizes should be reduced and how well teachers should be trained (M)

Decision in Bias Case Is Another Blow to Merrill A federal judge dealt another blow to Merrill Lynch in its legal battle with women who contend that they were victims of sexual discrimination. Judge Ruben Castillo, of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, ruled that arbitrators who hear the remaining complaints that arose from a 1997 suit against Merrill can consider a previous finding that the firm engaged in ''a pattern and practice of discrimination'' against women who worked in its brokerage operations. [Page C2.]

Toyota Motor's profit rose 29 percent in latest quarter; net income was 286.6 billion yen ($2.59 billion) compared with 222.6 billion yen year ago; Toyota's share of US market rose to 11.9 percent for first six months of 2004 from 11 percent in same period last year; overall revenue for quarter increased 10 percent, to 4.51 trillion yen ($40.75 billion) from 4.09 trillion yen year earlier; photo (M)