August 3, 2005

THE hams curing in Robert Stehling's garage, just a few feet from his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda muscle car, would seem to ratify Mr. Stehling's claim to a North Carolina heritage, no matter how far afield he has traveled. ''I'm not trying to hide my country cousin roots,'' he said recently.

Iraq Ambush Kills 6 U.S. Marines Six Marine snipers on foot were killed in an ambush near a western Iraqi city, in one of the deadliest single attacks on American troops in the last several months. In a nearby city, a seventh marine was killed in a suicide attack. The killing of the six marines was unusual in that insurgents are ordinarily no match for American troops in a ground fight. PAGE A10 Another Enron Settlement Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce agreed to pay $2.4 billion to settle claims that it helped hide losses at the Enron Corporation, raising to $7.1 billion the amount defendants have agreed to pay to compensate investors. PAGE C1 Russia Bars ABC Journalists Russia said it was barring journalists from ABC News from working in the country in retaliation for the broadcast on ''Nightline'' of an interview with the Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev. PAGE A3 Steroid Is Identified Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for stanozolol, a potent anabolic steroid not found in dietary supplements, according to a person with direct knowledge of the case. PAGE D1 A Long-Distance Chat President Bush spoke with the astronauts on the shuttle Discovery, thanking them for being ''risk takers.'' One such risk is to be taken today, when an astronaut will try to pluck pieces of cloth protruding from the shuttle's underside. PAGE A13 SPECIAL TODAY Circuits/The Digital Student For the ''Net Generation,'' back to school means more than pens and pencils. The essentials run from laptops to MP3 alarm clocks. Also: David Pogue helps parents wade through some higher calculus: cellphone plan options. SECTION G

Caryn James Critic's Notebook column on novels written after 9/11 but before 7/7 about terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and ones that were expected in London; focuses on Ian McEwan's Saturday, Michael Cunningham's Specimen Days, Patrick McGrath's Ghost Town: Tales of Manhattan Then and Now and Chris Cleave's Incendiary; photos (M)

Cnooc, Chinese oil company, withdraws its $18.5 billion for Unocal, clearing way for Chevron to acquire Unocal for about $17 billion and keep it in American hands; Cnooc's pullback underscores resentment and bitterness that has formed in China and US over effort to buy what some consider to be strategic assets; Chinese oil companies are expected to continue seeking foreign oil assets despite Cnooc's failure and may learn something from tactical and political miscalculations Cnooc made; photos; graph of Unocal's daily share price since Chevron first offered to buy it on April 4 (M)

Al Leiter had made it look so easy that night in Boston, coming back to the Yankees and winning, thoroughly controlling the game. The Yankees, it seemed, had plucked a bargain from the Florida Marlins for the low, low price of $400,000. That memory fuels the Yankees' hopes for Leiter, reminding them of what he can do. But Leiter has not done it since then, laboring through two starts before falling apart at Jacobs Field on Tuesday.

Roberta Smith reviews installations by Barry McGee and Swoon at Deitch Projects galleries in Manhattan; photo (M)

Article on dispute between family of late psychologist Karl Jung and Deirdre Bair, author of book Jung: A Biography; some relatives question reliability of patient diaries cited in book that hint at sexual liasons with Jung, scoff at description of Jung's wife, Emma, and resent Bair not seeking their approval for statements they made during interviews; Random House subsidiary Knaus Verlag, in rare compromise, agrees to insert two pages of family version of descriptions and facts in German translation being published this fall; photos (M)

AT a June orientation briefing for parents at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, talk turned quickly to technology. Five students had given up their Sunday afternoon to address issues that the fretful parents might have had about sending their children to college -- finding a balance between study and fun, Greek life, campus safety, binge drinking. But many parents had other questions: which operating system is best; is a laptop or desktop preferable; how good is the wireless access; and is it necessary to bring a printer? The session's leader, a little desperate, finally asked, ''Does anyone have questions that aren't about technology?''

The positive drug test that has left Rafael Palmeiro's legacy in doubt involved the potent anabolic steroid stanozolol, a person in baseball with direct knowledge of the sport's drug-testing program said yesterday. Stanozolol, known by its brand name, Winstrol, was most notably linked to the Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada, who was stripped of a gold medal in 1988 after testing positive for that steroid.

He has been steadfastly upbeat, refusing any impulse to lash out at critics or gloat about his hot hitting. If people have suspicions about the source of his sudden power tear, the Yankees' Jason Giambi does not mind. ''I really don't care, to be honest with you,'' he said at Jacobs Field on Tuesday before the Yankees played the Cleveland Indians. ''I'm just working hard. It's the result of playing hard and working hard. If somebody wants to shortchange it, that's their problem, not mine.''

WHEN your child heads off to college for the first time, be prepared for some intense emotional displays: prolonged farewell speeches, physical clinging, hysterical weeping. Your child may show some emotion, too.

Air France Airbus A340-300 arriving from Paris skids off runway at Pearson International Airport in Toronto and bursts into flames, but all 309 people on board escape without single serious injury; landing occurs two hours after airport suspended most takeoffs because of severe weather; witnesses on ground report intense lightning bolts and strong wind moments before accident; photos; map (M)