Xinhua News Agency, Moscow, August 31st, by reporter Rong Xie  Presidents of 3 Baltic Sea countries issued a joint statement on August 31st, pointing out that Russia's withdrawal of troops from the 3 Baltic Sea countries would "strengthen European security".  The statement emphasized that Russia's completing its troop withdrawal should promote the development of relations between Russian and Baltic Sea countries.   This joint statement was issued on the occasion of Russia entirely completing its troop withdrawal from the three Baltic Sea countries.  Russian troops stationed in Lithuania had withdrawn to Russia one year earlier.  On August 31st of this year, Russian troops stationed in Latvia withdrew completely and Russian troops stationed in Estonia also completed withdrawal on August 29th of this year.   In an interview with International Correspondence Communication News Agency on the 31st, Klelov, vice-minister of Russia's Foreign Affairs, pointed out that, although Russia has withdrawn its troops from the Baltic Sea countries, if the Baltic Sea countries infringe upon the rights of local Russian-speaking residents, the Russian government still has measures for exerting influence over these countries, which include political, economical and humanitarian measures.  (End)


Beirut 8-15 (AFP) -  Lebanon has asked the international peacekeeping force operating in the south to investigate reports indicating that Israel is penetrating the shared border between the two countries and to prevent this from happening.   According to official sources, the Lebanese authorities contacted the peacekeeping high command and asked it to put an end to infringements by Israel, which is carrying out operations inside Lebanese territory, in particular dumping sand and building slopes.   The source added that if this is confirmed, then such acts constitute a provocation and an infringement of Lebanese sovereignty.   Witnesses said two Israeli bulldozers started work today Tuesday on a slope in the Abbad sector inside Lebanese territory on the border between Lebanon and Israel.   These witnesses told Agence France Presse that an Israeli army patrol equipped with ultra-modern binoculars penetrated a few meters into Lebanese territory but withdrew back to Israeli territory as soon as a peacekeeping patrol arrived.   Families in southern Lebanon visit this area where, according to tradition, the burial site of Sheikh Abbad, who died 500 years ago, is located.  For their part, Israelis also regard the site as a shrine because, according to them, Rabbi Ashi lived there in the 5th century.   The Israeli army had previously carried out operations inside Lebanese territory in the same border region on August 11.   Last Friday, an Israeli bulldozer crossed the wire fence in Wadi Marjayoun near the Israeli village of Matla and spread sand over a length of hundreds of meters and a width of six meters in order to expose the footprints of people crossing the border or tire prints of cars from the Lebanese side.


Bandar Seri Begawan 11-15 (AFP) -  A high-level American official announced today Wednesday in the wake of the meeting between American President Bill Clinton and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Putin's proposals on reducing the Russian and American nuclear capability to under 1500 nuclear heads does not include "many new elements."   The official who wished to remain anonymous confirmed "we have paid a great deal of attention to President Putin's announcement but it does not contain many new elements, in fact just a few new disparities which require further examination and discussion by experts."   Clinton and Putin are taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bandar Seri Begawan the capital of the Sultanate of Brunei.  The presidents met for a working lunch of around 75 minutes.   The American official stressed that what is important in Putin's proposal is that it falls within the "framework adopted by the United States and Russia to discuss strategic issues from a defensive and offensive point of view."   Putin proposed limiting the Russian and American nuclear capabilities by reducing the number of nuclear heads to under 1500 each, a smaller number than that in the Russian-American Start-3 treaty currently being negotiated.  He proposed that the current reduction should be between 2500 to 2000 nuclear heads.   Putin said this reduction would depend on compliance with the Russian-American anti-ABM missile treaty signed in 1972, which the Americans are attempting to amend to set up anti- missile defenses (NMD).   Washington has so far confirmed agreeing to the 2000 to 2500 nuclear warhead ceiling.  The United States has not taken a final position on the NMD system because Clinton, whose term ends in January, is leaving the decision in this matter to his successor.   In response to a question about Republican presidential candidate George Bush Junior's approach to deploying the NMD system, more ambitious than the one proposed by the Clinton administration, the American official said the United States would continue "complying with the present framework" in these strategic discussions.   He added "while this framework does not reflect the basic interests of the United States, we feel it is still a valid approach in our discussions with Russia on this matter."   He also said that Clinton raised the issue of the transfer of sensitive Russian technology to Iran, adding "President Putin has expressed his agreement that these are real threats and is strongly committed to limiting this, but there is still a lot of work to do" in this area.   Clinton also touched on the matter of American Edmond Bob who is being tried in a closed court in Russia on charges of spying. The United States believes he is innocent of these charges and is demanding his release on humanitarian grounds.   The official said Putin understands our concern and we hope he will do something as quickly as possible."


The US navy now says the USS Cole was being refueled when an explosion ripped through it in Yemen last week, killing 17. The revised accounting of the incident was given in a navy statement Friday raising new questions about how the small boat carrying the explosives was able to get near the ship and set off the blast.


I am David Coler, VOA News. President Elect George W Bush made more cabinet appointments Wednesday. He named Al Koha Chairman Paul O' Neil as Treasury Secretary and former California Food and Agriculture Secretary, Anne Venemon as Secretary of Agriculture. He also named an old friend, an oil business associate, Don Evans as Secretary of Commerce.   The promotion of free enterprise first in America and then abroad will be our first priority. Free flow of capital, free and open competition. We will strive to be an advocate for US businesses first in America and also those wading into the waters of the global market place.   Mr. Bush also named former Cuban refugee Mel Martinez as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Martinez is a close political ally of the President Elect's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Mr. Bush says he will step down Thursday as Governor of Texas.


DENVER (AP) _ The Denver Broncos and the NFL want a commercial real estate agent to take down a sign advertising a site for a potential sports bar because it features the team's name.   John ``Jack'' Hanlon of Coldwell Banker American Spectrum is listing an acre of land about a mile from the Broncos' training camp in Dove Valley.   Hanlon, a longtime Broncos fan, thinks it is the perfect place for a sports bar and has put up a blue-and-orange sign reading, ``Wanted Broncos Sports Bar On This Site.''   He said that 47,000 cars drive by the site daily and ``because the players have to drive by it every day it could become a hangout for them.''   Hanlon said he never has implied that the future sports bar would be called the Broncos Bar, but his company has turned over the matter to its legal department.   ``I thought it would be a good idea to have a bar that would celebrate the Broncos, emphasizing everything Broncos with pregame and postgame activities,'' Hanlon said. ``But I couldn't put that on a 4-by-8 sign.''   He said he will do whatever his lawyer advises, but ``I don't think the Broncos own the word 'Broncos.'''   NFL lawyer David Proper has given Hanlon until Dec. 26 to remove the sign.   In a Nov. 28 letter, Proper states ``while we have no objection to your advertising the property as a location for a sports bar, using the Broncos' name and colors gives the false impression that the bar is or can be affiliated with the Broncos.''   The land is valued at $650,000 and the bar could cost about $1 million to $1.2 million, Hanlon said.


QUICKLY &LR; &QL; (Repeating; this is now a New York Times front-page story) &QL; (ART ADV: Graphic is being sent to NYT graphic clients. Nonsubscribers can purchase one-time rights by calling 888-603-1036 or 888-346-9867.) &QL; &UR; By DAVID FIRESTONE &LR; &QC; &QL; &UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &LR; &QC; &QL;    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ Lawyers for Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday their only chance for victory in his contest of the Florida election would be shattered if they have to wait until Saturday to begin counting disputed ballots, and they began an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court to do the counting itself, immediately.   The appeal was filed with the District Court of Appeal late Wednesday afternoon, and will be submitted to the state's highest court early Thursday, Gore's lawyers said. It essentially asks the Supreme Court to take over Gore's contest lawsuit from the slow-moving trial court, to count the ballots itself, and eventually to declare Gore the winner if he wins the recount.   But lawyers for Gov. George W. Bush said they had no intention of allowing any hand counting to begin without a vigorous legal fight. To that end, they persuaded Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls to order 1.1 million ballots _ every vote cast in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties _ brought up from south Florida and placed in the court's custody.   That represents 83 times the number of disputed ballots that the judge had agreed on Tuesday to transport to Tallahassee at the Gore team's request. And it could take weeks if not months to count them all, the point that Barry Richard, Bush's chief trial lawyer here, said he was trying to make in requesting that the ballots be transported here.   ``We did it to make a point,'' Richard said in an interview. ``If you recount any ballots, you have to recount all of them. Now, we don't think any ballots should be counted, because the manual recount of ballots is finished. But in the event the court determines that some ballots should be counted, we wanted them here so they could all be counted.''   Aware that they could not stop the movement of all the ballots, Gore's lawyers barely objected to the move, asking only that the disputed ballots that might contain hidden Gore votes be separated from the mass.   ``I know when it's futile,'' said David Boies, Gore's chief trial lawyer, to Sauls.   Nonetheless, Gore's lawyers were furious at the move, aware that it represents yet another enormous barrier to their hopes for an immediate count of the 14,000 disputed ballots in the two counties and a quick decision from the judge that Gore really won the election. Even if the Florida Supreme Court should swiftly agree to their request and orders the counting to begin by Friday, that would still put them three days behind their original timetable. And facing a Dec. 12 deadline for the state to name electors for the Electoral College, Gore has absolutely no days to spare.   ``It's a stunt,'' said Kendall Coffey, one of Gore's election lawyers, as he stormed out of Sauls' courtroom Wednesday, referring to the request for all the ballots. ``They're trying to bog down the case, the system, the clerk's office and everywhere else they can.''   The decision by Gore's lawyers to appeal the case shows how perilous their situation is. By appealing, the lawyers were forced to put on paper their fear that their case could be over if they cannot begin counting ballots until Saturday.   The decision to wait until a Saturday hearing ``is effectively a final order denying all relief sought by plaintiffs because the action now pending below must be completed before Dec. 12, 2000, in order to offer any relief,'' said the notice filed with the Court of Appeal. It adds, ``the court must allow sufficient time to complete an accurate and fair count of the contested ballots, which is essential for the proper resolution of the contest action.''   But the decision to bring up all the ballots means that they will not be assembled in Tallahassee until late Friday, a day later than planned. And even then, the hurdles are enormous. There will have to be another hearing before the Florida Supreme Court, and Gore's lawyers will have to refute three arguments to be raised by the Bush team: There should be no more counting at all; if there is any counting, it will have to include all 1.16 million ballots; and if there is any counting of disputed ballots, dimples cannot be counted as votes.   If these issues are heard before Sanders, there will have to be briefs, witnesses, and evidence on each point, which could take days. If the Supreme Court agrees to short-circuit the process, there will still have to be lengthy briefs filed, and the court may need to wait several days before finding time for yet another momentous hearing in its schedule.


Welcome to this hour of VOA News Now. I'm Erin Brumett in Washington. The incredibly close Florida vote count for President is in the state courts and heading for the US Supreme Court at the end of the week. That's virtually unprecedented, as the Federal Courts have tended to stay out of elections, which are the responsibility of the states. Joe O'Grossman is a professor of constitutional law at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University. He says that in this instance the Supreme Court probably felt the circumstances were such that they had no real alternative but to take the case.   Well, I think they took the case because it seemed like it was such a important issue that it would be kind of unseemly for them to try to reject it out of hand. In fact, I think that Lawrence Tribe, the Harvard Law School Professor who is arguing for Gore tomorrow, is going to ask the court to hold the case, moot and dismiss it. And the Bush campaign has brought the case, but recognizes that the particular issues that they brought to the court last week are really not very relevant anymore. They are going to probably, well, I know what they are going to do. They are going to try to broaden the case to make it a kind of a general referendum on election procedures. So, they are looking for a coronation. And the Gore people at this point just want to get rid of this case, because they think they have a better chance in the Florida courts.   Republicans generally support states' rights. So, does it appear somewhat ironic that they are going to the Supreme Court in this instance?   No, I think first of all the notion that Republicans favor states' rights and Democrats oppose it, is much too simplistic. That's generally true, but it's only true on some issues. And in this case, you could argue that the Bush people are going to the Supreme Court to preserve the right of Florida, to determine its own electors. So, there is a kind of states' rights issue there. But they need, or at least they once thought they needed the Supreme Court to endorse it. So it goes both ways.   What are the justices likely looking for?   Well, I don't know. But I think that - and I think they will be divided, I mean I don't think they will be unanimous. Obviously, they would like to be able to achieve some kind of resolution of the case. American election laws are often challenged at the local level and sometimes in the Federal courts, but this is certainly the first time we have had a Supreme Court challenge over presidential election. So, there is a lot of new law here to be made or at least law that hasn't been made yet. It's possible that if the court accepts the invitation of the Bush campaign, at least as it is expressed in the briefs they submitted yesterday, that the court will in the sense, take the entire issue, even - not just the specific questions that it was asked last week and try to resolve the question. For example, if the court says it is clearly the fact that the legislature of the state of Florida can determine for itself who its electors will be, that will pretty much end the case, because that's what the legislature already plans to do. And that doesn't mean the Gore people won't keep trying, because ultimately Congress has to decide and only Congress can decide if there are competing slates of electors submitted, which slate to accept.   The Johns Hopkins University constitutional law professor Joe O'Grossman says, it's still not certain the Supreme Court will actually hear the Florida case. As their first order, business Friday, attorneys for Vice President Gore will move to have the court dismiss the case brought by Republican George W Bush.


JERUSALEM (AP) _ A car bomb exploded Thursday in a crowded outdoor market in the heart of Jerusalem, killing at least two people, police said.   Ambulances raced to the Mahane Yehuda market, which sells food, vegetables and clothing in Jewish west Jerusalem. Huge plumes of black smoke rose into the sky.   The blast came shortly before Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were scheduled to make separate announcements of steps toward a cease-fire.


Bandar Seri Begawan 11-15 (AFP) -  A Japanese official announced today Wednesday that Japan and Russia are to hold a summit before the end of the current year in an attempt to find a solution to their dispute about the Coral Islands, which has hindered the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries since the end of World War II.   The decision to hold the summit was made during the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on the periphery of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Brunei.   The Japanese official said that those responsible had "agreed to meet at Irkotsik (east Russia) before the end of the year.   In 1997, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Japanese Prime Minister Riotaro Hashimoto agreed to sign the peace treaty before the end of 2000, but negotiations have not progressed much since then.   Russia and Japan have been unable to sign a peace agreement since 1945 because of their dispute concerning four of the Coral islands located between Russia and Japan and which were invaded by Russian forces in the last few days of World War II.   Putin visited Japan last September but the visit did not produce any result on the issue of the islands.


WASHINGTON (AP) _ All else being equal, Duane Roelands would prefer to dash off short instant text messages to co-workers and friends with the service offered by Microsoft _ the one he finds easiest to use.   But for Roelands, all else is not equal: His office, clients and nearly everyone else he knows use America Online's messaging system. Now, he does too.   ``There are features that I want and I like,'' said Roelands, a Web developer, who likens it to the battle between VHS and Beta video recorders in the 1980s. ``But the reality is if I use the better product, I get less functionality.''   For this reason, instant messaging rivals like Microsoft, AT&T and ExciteAtHome maintain their users ought to be able to send messages to anyone else, regardless of what service they happen to have. That's not currently possible.   The companies are lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to require AOL to make its product compatible with those offered by competitors as a condition of its merger with Time Warner.   So far, the agency appears to favor a more tailored approach. The commission's staff has recommended that AOL be required to make its system work with at least one other provider, but the requirement would apply only to advanced instant messaging services offered over Time Warner's cable lines.   How the agency defines advanced services is unclear. They could refer to features beyond text messaging, such as video teleconferencing, the sharing of files or messaging over interactive television.   Today, consumers more commonly take advantage of the garden variety functions. They type short real-time phrases to others, allowing them to ``chat'' back-and-forth using text. Unlike e-mail, it's instantaneous and gets the recipient's attention right away.   People can communicate with international friends without the hefty phone bills. And the service has taken hold with those who have hearing or speech disabilities.   Unlike the telephone, people can discreetly interact with others _ or decide not to.   ``It's communications that can be ignored,'' said Jonathan Sacks, a vice president at AOL, which runs the two leading messaging services _ ICQ and AIM _ with 140 million users. ``On the telephone, you can't see when somebody is near the phone. You can't see when it's convenient for them to communicate with you.''   AOL rivals say that if instant messaging is to be as ubiquitous as the phone network, it has to work the same way: People who use different providers must still be able to contact one another. They continue to lobby the FCC, hoping to see the conditions broadened before the agency issues its final decision.   ``It's really important to get this right before innovation is squashed because one company has a monopoly,'' said Jon Englund, vice president of government affairs for ExciteAtHome. ``It's absolutely critical that Internet uses have real choice among competing platforms.''   AOL has said it wants to work toward interoperability, but first needs to protect consumer privacy and security to prevent the kinds of problems that have emerged in the e-mail world, like spamming _ unwanted junk messages.   Company officials disagreed that AOL's market share was keeping out competitors. AOL executives cited a recent study by Media Metrix indicating that the messaging services offered by Yahoo! and Microsoft are the fastest growing in the United States.   Why all the fuss over a free product that anyone, even those who don't subscribe to AOL, can use?   Some pointed to the recent demise of two instant messaging competitors _ iCAST and Tribal Voice _ as evidence that AOL's dominance could prevent choices in the market.   Another concern is that AOL could use its substantial customer base to tack on new advanced services and then charge for them.   Rivals said the ability of various services to work together will become increasingly important in the future. For example, as instant messaging migrates to cell phones or hand-held computer organizers, consumers won't want to have to install multiple services on these devices, said Brian Park, senior product for Yahoo! Communications Services.   ``You can have the best service and the coolest features, but nobody is going to use it if it doesn't communicate with other services,'' Park said.   ___   On the Net:   America Online corporate site: http://corp.aol.com   IMUnified, coalition formed by AT&T, ExciteAtHome, Microsoft: http://www.imunified.org/


ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ One of baseball's biggest free-agent prizes, Alex Rodriguez is getting red-carpet treatment from the Texas Rangers.   And even the Dallas Stars are lending a hand in trying to win over the All-Star shortstop.   Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras were expected to meet Monday with Rangers owner Tom Hicks. He will be joined by general manager Doug Melvin, manager Johnny Oates and several players.   The team's bid for Rodriguez hasn't been slowed by the expected demand of at least a 10-year contract, in the range of $20 million a year, loaded with fringe benefits.   ``We feel at the expense of last year, we have our roster where we don't have to trade people to make this work,'' Melvin said in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Monday. ``I'm not saying we have all the money in the world, but we don't have to bust our budget completely. We're in a better position than most other clubs.''   Stars center Mike Modano is being called in to help show Rodriguez around the Dallas-Fort Worth area and tell him why it would be a great place to play.   Melvin said he doesn't expect the Rangers to make a formal offer until they can gauge the level of interest from Rodriguez.   The 25-year-old shortstop, who hit .316 with 41 homers and 132 RBIs at Seattle last season, also reportedly has been targeted by the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves.   The Mariners, Rodriguez's team the past six years, also wanted to re-sign him.   ``This gives us a chance to tell him about our organization and the direction we're going, answer any questions they might have about us,'' Melvin said.   Some even have a neighborhood _ the fashionable Dallas suburb of Highland Park _ picked out for Rodriguez. Neighbors of one available residence _ a five-bedroom spread worth $11.95 million _ would include Hicks, Modano and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.   ``Alex needs to buy this house,'' Ronda Needham, a listing agent, told The Dallas Morning News. ``The people who own this house set it up around their two baseball-playing sons. It's a very sports-minded house.''   The Mets, once considered the favorites to get Rodriguez, have slowed their chase. General manager Steve Phillips publicly criticized some of the demands supposedly made by Boras. But the agent says Rodriguez is making no special demands.   ``I can't anticipate any change that would draw us back into it,'' Phillips said.


&UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &LR; &QC; &QL;    GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. _ It is deer hunting season in Michigan, and hunters who climb trees with loaded shotguns have state officials redoubling safety education efforts.   Two men have been killed, and a third has been injured since the hunting season opened on Nov. 15. All three accidents involved shotguns, elevated platforms and a practice relatively new to Michigan hunters _ shooting at deer from trees. The Michigan season, one of the busiest, continues through Nov. 30.   Firearm hunting from elevated platforms has long been legal in other states with heavy hunting, like New York and Pennsylvania. But the practice is only in its third season in Michigan, and officials say it appears that hunters still have a lot to learn about safety. Lt. Suzanne Koppelo, hunter safety administrator of the law enforcement division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources &UR; , &LR; said that since firearm platform hunting began in Michigan there had been seven shooting accidents linked to the practice. Three were fatal. Two hunters shot themselves on platforms and another was killed on the ground by a hunter shooting from a platform. ``If hunters exercised the kind of caution one would expect at heights of 20-some feet, it would be almost a nonissue,'' said Koppelo. ``But given human nature, that's not the case.''   More than 750,000 licensed hunters are taking to the Michigan woods this year, where they are expected to kill about 500,000 of the state's 1.9 million deer. The numbers reinforce the need to improve education about platform hunting with firearms, Koppelo said.   The practice is more commonly associated with hunters using bows and arrows. Instead of hiding on the ground or walking through the woods, they wait quietly, typically at a height of 15 to 20 feet, and fire down at deer that wander below.   Despite the hunter killed from the platform, Sgt. Larry D. Sargent, hunter education field coordinator for the law enforcement division, says the practice does offer one safety advantage: errant shots typically thump harmlessly to the ground, rather than whistling through the woods and striking other people.   The problems primarily arise when hunters get in and out of position.   ``It's kind of hard climbing a tree with a gun,'' Rob Williams said, as he and a hunting partner, Art Bush, waited on a recent morning in a conventional earthbound hunting blind about 20 miles west of Detroit.   For Williams, Rule No. 1 is not to climb a tree with a loaded gun. He says that when he hunts from a platform he climbs up with a rope dangling from his belt to his gun, which he leaves unloaded on the ground. When he is secure in his stand, he pulls his gun up after him and loads it. Sargent says this is proper procedure.   One accident this year, however, illustrates the importance of following each step of the safety procedures. A 16-year-old hunter used a haul line, but it was tied to the trigger guard and he left the gun loaded, Koppelo said. The teen-ager's gun went off and he was shot in the foot.   Others are hurt falling out of trees. Koppelo said that state officials were trying to keep count of these injuries but that it was difficult, since they relied on hunters reporting minor accidents.   ``A lot of guys are embarrassed,'' Sargent said. ``They'll say they fell working in the yard or something.''   Others, Koppelo says, do not want to report accidents for fear the law will be changed. And she adds that though anecdotal reports show Michigan's large hunting population to be taking slowly to firearm deer hunting from platforms, most expect the practice to catch on as it has in other states.   As Peter Thompson, a 16-year-old hunter, said, ``Usually the deer don't look up.''


WORLD' &LR; &QL; &UR; By STUART ELLIOTT &LR; &QC; &QL; &UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &LR; &QC; &QL;    It's time again to ask 20 questions about advertising, marketing and the media.   _ Will Americans ever refer to the day before Thanksgiving as ``Thanksgiving Wednesday,'' as ABC did repeatedly this week in commercials promoting its Wednesday sitcoms ``The Drew Carey Show'' and ``Spin City''?   _ If a Hollywood studio makes a movie about the Florida election standoff, would the title be ``It's a Chad, Chad, Chad, Chad World''?   _ How many readers of The Wall Street Journal noticed that an article on Wednesday carrying the headline ``Genetically Altered Protein Is Found in Still More Corn'' ran adjacent to an advertisement for a golf tournament on Fox Sports sponsored by Sun Microsystems that featured a fanciful photograph of a gigantic ear of corn as big as a Buick?   _ Doesn't a new television commercial for Fidelity Investments, centered on a telephone conversation between a female employee and a male customer, resemble a Citibank campaign from the late 1980s that was so brilliantly parodied as the ``First Citiwide Change Bank'' commercials on ``Saturday Night Live''?   _ Did shoppers at the New York supermarket chain Gristede's rush to take advantage of a recent sale on the ``BIG 150-count box'' of Scotties facial tissues, or did they recall that Scotties has usually come in a 175-count box?   _ Can Ocean Spray Cranberries get a refund on a full-page ad that ran in newspapers on Nov. 8 and carried the headline ``Now That the Election Is Over, You Can Focus on Some Real News''?   _ Was it a coincidence that an ad for the Carnation Coffee-mate line of coffee creamers in the recent issue of In Style Entertaining 2000 magazine ran opposite an article about ``great trends'' in party-giving that began by describing carnations as ``the chic flower of the moment''?   _ Should an English teacher have been consulted before the Tropicana division of PepsiCo produced posters that described its Pure Premium orange juice as being ``as packed with Vitamin C as a bus on a rainy day''?   _ Will Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear and James L. Brooks complain about an ad from Campbell Soup Co. for Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup that carried the slogan ``As m'm! m'm! good! as it gets''?   _ Now that the Roundabout Theater Company is calling its new facility in Times Square the American Airlines Theater, will the ushers give out peanuts instead of Playbills?   _ Why did the Reader's Digest Association go to the trouble of airbrushing the identifying information from a label on a pair of jeans worn by a man in a photograph featured in an ad for Reader's Digest magazine, but leave the red tab on the back pocket that tells everyone the pants are Levi's?   _ Do television commercials for prescription drugs disclose that side effects in tests were no worse ``than a sugar pill'' because research found that consumers weren't familiar with the word ``placebo''?   _ What was in the zeitgeist that led two disparate advertisers _ Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and the MSN network of Microsoft _ to introduce about the same time campaigns centered on butterflies?   _ And what was in the zeitgeist that led two automotive marketers _ Land Rover and Volvo _ to introduce about the same time commercials centered on drivers rescuing animals on rainy roads?   _ Are folks old enough to remember the heyday of the radio and television personality Arthur Godfrey reminded of his longtime greeting, ``How are ya?,'' every time they hear the name of the new Lucent Technologies spinoff company, Avaya Communication?   _ How appealing was a recent offer made by Sprint Communications Co. to give buyers of a Sprint PCS telephone and a calling plan a free ``pre-owned phone''?   _ Was it an inside joke that the name of the character played by John Corbett on ``Sex and the City,'' Aidan Shaw, was almost identical to the name of a longtime star of gay sex films, Aiden Shaw?   _ How many tickets did the Houston Grand Opera sell after mailing out a promotional brochure featuring photographs of cattle with headlines like ``It's udderly fantastic entertainment!'' and ``Great opera. No bull.''?   _ If CBS shows the first episode of ``Survivor II'' after its broadcast of Super Bowl XXXV, will the network someday show the first episode of ``Survivor XXXV'' after its broadcast of Super Bowl LXVIII?   _ Will cheerful chorus members dressed in V-neck sweaters interrupt their serenades to online shopping long enough to tell an advertising columnist, ``You ask a lot of questions for someone from Brooklyn''?


Tallahassee (United States) 11-15 (AFP) -  The Supreme Court in Florida today Wednesday refused the application by the state's authorities to stop the new hand count of votes in some counties.


Jerusalem 11-15 (AFP) -  Official Israeli radio reported that the lesser security cabinet which met this evening Wednesday has made a series of practical decisions pointing to its desire to avoid confrontations with the Palestinians.   The radio reported "senior political officials" as saying at the close of the security cabinet's meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Ehud Barak, that the army would continue with the procedure it has followed over the past days and that there would be no escalation.   Military officials who also attended the meeting that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat "wants to drag Israel into an escalation which would lead to international intervention."   The head of the prime minister's office, Jalaad Shir, had previously said on official television that "a compromise must be found between a studied response not leading to escalation and the need to pave the way for political openness, on the condition that the Palestinians resolutely stop the violence and incitement to violence."   Shir added "only then will it be possible to think about resuming the political process and on what basis."   The security cabinet was convened to a session with the aim of examining new measures to deal with the escalation in attacks against Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.   Last week, Barak gave his consent, for the first time since the Intifada began, to elimination of Hussein Abiyat the military leader of Fatah movement led by Arafat killed when a missile fired from a combat helicopter targeted his car.   Israeli security forces arrested 15 Fatah officials in the West Bank on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.   In his statement, Barak praised this operation and the elimination of Abiyat, stressing that this policy would continue.  He said "the long arm of our forces will reach those who attack our civilians and soldiers."


ROME, Italy (AP) _ A little mountain village in northern Italy buried five victims of last week's devastating high water and mudslides on Sunday, the day a state of emergency finally ran out.   Floodwaters throughout the region, including the raging Po River, have ebbed, emptying into the Adriatic and revealing a rising toll of damage. Some roads and bridges are still closed and could remain so for some time, officials say.   The death toll from the raging floodwaters and fearsome mudslides reached 37 combined for the Alpine region of northern Italy and southern Switzerland. Eighteen of those were from the Valle d'Aosta in the Italian Alps.   At the church of San Maurizio in Fenis, a mountain hamlet near the city of Aosta, villagers paid their final respects to five local victims. Among them, double losses for two families _ a father and son in one, a mother and daughter in another.   Amid the grief in communities throughout the stricken area, life was slowly returning to something resembling normal. But thousands were still unable to go back to their drenched or damaged homes and a huge task of rebuilding lay ahead. Authorities estimate the damage in the hundreds of million of dollars.


It's now official, former star Mario Lameu is coming out of retirement to play for the National Ice Hockey League team that he owns, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lameu was the first NHL player to become a team owner. Now, he is the first owner to become a player. In a news release, Friday, Lameu said he missed the game and missed the challenge of competing. He added that he was excited by the challenge of attempting a comeback and looks forward to the chance to get back on the ice with the players. The 35-year-old Lameu retired as a player three and one half years ago with 613 goals in 745 regular season games. He won three most valuable player awards and led the Penguins to two Stanley Cup Championships in 1991 and 92.


Camp Zeist (Holland) 11-15 (AFP) -  Today Wednesday, the judges in charge of looking into the Lockerbie case in Camp Zeist (Holland) were faced with an awkward problem: how to deal with a witness who is refusing to answer questions and who is at the same time serving a life sentence and who is not subject to Scottish law?   The problem arose after Palestinian Mahmood Abu Talib, whose testimony the court has been hearing since Friday, refused to continue answering a question by defense lawyer Richard Keen about the detailed reasons for his having lived in the former Soviet Union for a period of 18 months in the 70s.   The lawyer asked the judges to force Abu Talib to answer the question aimed at demonstrating the witness's "professional terrorism" precedents.   46-year-old Abu Talib was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1990 in Sweden for terrorist acts in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm between 1985 and 1986. The defense council in the Lockerbie court is attempting to show his involvement in the Lockerbie attack.   Based on Scottish law, followed in this court, if Abu Talib insists on not responding to the question, this is considered to be "contempt of court" and means he may be punished in accordance with Scottish law covering such incidents.   The problem is that the judges may not punish Abu Talib unless Sweden hands him over to Scotland after the court case ends to apply the punishment for "contempt of court."   So far, the judges have not asked Abu Talib to answer the defense's question in what appears to be a move to avoid a tricky situation if the witness refuses to answer.   The court president, Ronald Sutherland, who adjourned the session for a short while in an attempt to find a solution to this dilemma, said "this raises an important question of principle."   The two Libyans, Alameen Khalifa Fahima and Abdulbasit al-Maqrahi, are suspected of sending a bomb from Malta which was used to explode the Pan Am plane over the Scottish village of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988 killing 270 people.


Washington 11-15 (AFP) -  Stewart Talbot, America's Assistant Secretary of State and "second in charge" at the State Department after Madeleine Albright, has decided to resign from the administration to head one of the departments at Yale University in the state of Connecticut (northeast).   Richard Levin, the Chancellor of this prestigious university, said Talbot would head the Globalization Studies Center as of next July and would also teach at the university.   Talbot is the second top-ranking American diplomat in a few days to announce his intention of resigning at the end of President Bill Clinton's second term next January 20.   The special envoy to the Middle East, Dennis Ross, announced last week that he intends to resign from his post, for personal and family reasons, once the current administration's term comes to an end.   Talbot, a Yale graduate and former correspondent with Time magazine, was appointed assistant to the Secretary of State in 1994 after acting as roving ambassador and special advisor on former Soviet Union Affairs.


PHOENIX (AP) _ Boise State coach Dirk Koetter, who just a day earlier was reportedly headed for Oklahoma State, has agreed to a contract to coach Arizona State.   Oklahoma State athletic director Terry Don Phillips confirmed Koetter's decision in a news release issued Friday night.   ``Coach Koetter informed me at approximately 7 p.m. (CST) tonight that he had been tendered an offer from Arizona State University and had accepted,'' Phillips said.   Koetter, 41, replaces Bruce Snyder, who was fired after nine seasons. Snyder will coach Arizona State in a bowl game, most likely the Las Vegas Bowl.   The Daily Oklahoman and several TV and radio stations in Oklahoma had reported Thursday and Friday that Koetter had accepted the Oklahoma State job.   But Phillips never confirmed those reports, and Koetter would not comment on any job possibilities at Boise State's practice Friday. Koetter said earlier in the week he had interviewed with Phillips and with Arizona State athletic director Gene Smith.   Koetter is considered one of the country's top young coaching prospects. Using an innovative, wide-open offense, he guided Boise State to a 25-10 record in three seasons. His first team went 6-5, followed by last year's 10-3 record, which included a 34-31 victory over Louisville in the Humanitarian Bowl.   This year's team is 9-2, with its only losses 38-31 at Arkansas and 42-25 at Washington State.   Koetter may not have been Arizona State's top choice.   Phoenix radio station KMVP reported Friday that Smith had quietly been working on a deal with TCU coach Dennis Franchione that would have matched the one offered by Alabama. But Franchione apparently couldn't resist the lure of one of college football's most storied programs.   While most of the recent speculation centered on Koetter, there was pressure from some Arizona State boosters to hire Danny White, the former Arizona State and Dallas Cowboys quarterback who coaches the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League.   Snyder was fired after his teams went 6-6 last year and 6-5 this season.


ECONOMISTS &LR; &QL; &UR; By MARK LANDLER &LR; &QC; &QL; &UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &LR; &QC; &QL;    HONG KONG _ For most of this year, Asia's economies have performed a sort of levitating act _ growing by double-digit rates month after month even as economists predicted they would fall to earth.   That dichotomy was on vivid display here Friday: Hong Kong reported that its economic output surged 10.4 percent in the third quarter, and it raised its projection for full-year growth to 10 percent from 8.5 percent.   Yet a block away, the International Monetary Fund warned in a news conference that Asian economies could be hit hard by soaring oil prices and turmoil in the financial markets. The IMF said a $5 increase in the price of a barrel of oil could slow the growth rates of Asian countries next year.   ``The prospects for growth in 2001 have weakened,'' said David Robinson, assistant director of research at the fund. ``There has also been increased political instability across the world, not least in Asia.''   Several Asian countries _ notably the Philippines, Taiwan, and Indonesia _ have been gripped by political tumult in recent weeks. The Philippines president, Joseph Estrada, was impeached last week, while Chen Shui-bian, the president of Taiwan, is trying to fend off a recall vote.   Even in more stable countries, like Malaysia and South Korea, Robinson said the Fund was concerned by the haphazard pace of economic reforms. In many countries, the banks and corporations remain financially shaky.   ``We're still seeing chaebols in deep trouble,'' he said, referring to Korea's heavily indebted conglomerates.   But Robinson acknowledged that these weaknesses had not yet been reflected in the economic performance of the countries. On Tuesday, South Korea reported a 9.2 percent increase in its third-quarter output _ beating the estimates of most analysts and extending a string of powerful quarters.   Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have also beaten expectations, while Hong Kong's growth rate was nearly three percentage points above a median forecast of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.   Like other Asian economies, Hong Kong has been buoyed by an unquenchable appetite for its exports, principally in the United States. Exports surged 17.7 percent in the third quarter. Hong Kong has done a particularly booming business in repackaging and shipping goods from mainland China.   Consumer spending rose by a much less impressive 5.6 percent, as retail sales slackened from the second quarter. And consumer prices fell 2 percent, extending a decline that began during the crisis.   Ian Perkin, chief economist at the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce said the double-digit growth in Hong Kong and other Asian countries masked their underlying condition. While the region's growth in exports has been torrid, domestic demand has remained tenuous.   ``We haven't built up our domestic economies yet,'' he said. ``The recovery has relied almost completely on export growth.   ``If consumer spending slows down in the States, it will have a devastating effect on Asia,'' said Perkin. ``2001 could be a crunch year.''   Robinson of the IMF was similarly wary about next year. In October, the IMF projected that the world economy would grow 4.2 percent in 2001, while Asia as a region would grow 6.6 percent. On Friday, Robinson said the growth rate could be lower, though he would not say by how much.   A principal culprit of possibly slower growth is the dependence of many Asian countries on imported oil. Oil prices have risen $5 per barrel since the IMF issued its semi-annual economic outlook in October.   Asia has little control over oil, but Robinson said the region could improve its economic prospects by calming its political waters.   One bright spot in the Asian landscape is China, which is on track to record 8 percent growth in 2000. Robinson said the main question facing Chinese leaders was whether they need to spend billions of dollars in public funds to further stimulate an economy that was already expanding.   Like Perkin, Robinson said Asia's future depended in large part on the health of the United States. But he disputed those who predict dramatically slowing growth _ the so-called hard landing _ for the American economy.   ``The chances of that happening are less than 40 percent,'' he said, ``substantially less.''


NEW YORK (AP) _ The price of a college degree continues to rise faster than inflation, with tuition and fees at public four-year colleges up an average 4.4 percent this fall, even more at private schools, a new survey has found. And loans provide a growing chunk of the extra money students need to pay for those degrees.   Average in-state tuition and fees at public, four-year schools is $3,510 per semester _ $148 more than last year, according to figures released Monday by the College Board. On-campus room and board now averages $4,960, up 5.1 percent.   At private four-year colleges, tuition and fees average $16,332, up 5.2 percent from last year. Room and board on campus is now $6,209, a 4.2 percent increase.   Only public two-year schools, chiefly community colleges, stayed below the current inflation rate _ but barely. Tuition rose this year to $1,705, up 3.4 percent, the survey found.   Private two-year schools boosted tuition and fees to $7,458, a 7 percent rise.   This pattern follows an old, familiar trend, said Joni Finney, a policy analyst at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in San Jose, Calif. ``Colleges and universities have a very difficult time controlling their costs,'' she said.   ``These institutions were underfunded in the early part of the '90s,'' Finney said. ''... But they've more than made up for lost ground.''   But Stanley Eikenberry, president of the American Council on Education, an umbrella group for higher education, said in a statement, ``Given the large, fixed costs of most campuses, in personnel and facilities especially, these numbers show institutions are working hard to hold the line on increases.''   The recent increases push past inflation. The Consumer Price Index rose 2.7 percent in 1999; the first eight months of this year, consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 3.5 percent. Last year, college tuition and fees rose less than 5 percent.   Despite the increases, college remains affordable and a good investment, said College Board President Gaston Caperton in a statement with the surveys. ``In both earning potential and learning potential, you cannot beat the value of a college education,'' the former West Virginia governor said.   The College Board's figures concern the costs for 6.4 million full-time undergraduates _ 54 percent attending four-year public institutions, 27 percent at four-year private schools, 17 percent at two-year community colleges and 1 percent at private two-year schools.   A majority of students need grants or loans _ or both _ but their exact numbers are unknown, a College Board spokesman said.   Last school year, loans made up 59 percent of a record $68 billion in financial aid. A decade ago, loans made up just over 41 percent of student financial help.   The pool of money from federal, state and school sources last year was 4 percent greater than a year earlier, but 88 percent more than a decade before, taking inflation into account.   The New York-based College Board is a nonprofit organization that administers the SATs and promotes higher education.   It surveyed more than 3,000 schools to find out undergraduate charges for 2000-2001. The companion survey on financial aid, was based on federal, state and school statistics from 1999-2000. Current grant and loan figures are not available until the school year ends.   ____   On the Net: http://www.collegeboard.org   American Council on Education: http://www.acenet.edu


(EDS: This early version will be updated from Davenport, Iowa.) &QL; (ART ADV: Photos NYT11 and 25 are being sent to NYT photo clients. Nonsubscribers can purchase one-time rights by calling 888-603-1036 or 888-346-9867.) &QL; &UR; By FRANK BRUNI &QC; &LR; &QL; &UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &QC; &LR; &QL;    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. _ Nearly 17 months after he first issued his call for a ``fresh start after a season of cynicism,'' Gov. George W. Bush ended his quest for the presidency Monday on a nearly identical note, pledging to purge Washington of what he cast as a crippling discord.   The course that Bush charted over his final hours on the campaign trail, plotted with as much concern for symbolism as for raw electoral arithmetic, left no doubt about where he placed the blame for that atmosphere. His first major rally was in Tennessee and his last was planned for Arkansas, the home states, respectively, of Vice President Al Gore and President Clinton.   The Texas governor's words made equally clear that he saw himself as the country's best hope for bridging ideological divides, healing partisan wounds and making sure that Americans could gaze upon the White House with unfettered respect.   ``There's a better day ahead if we have a leader who's willing to unite the country, to bring people together, to elevate the people's business above everyday politics,'' Bush said at a rally inside a hangar at the airport here, where supporters' chants evoked the nearness of the moment of decision.   ``One more day!'' they roared. ``One more day!''   What the nation needed, Bush told them, was ``a president who can unite this nation, a president who puts aside the endless partisan bickering that seems to gridlock our nation's capitol, a president who puts the people first, a president who lifts this nation's spirits.   ``I'll be that president,'' he added, a sentence that was equal parts promise and prediction. It underscored the optimism that Bush has, from the very beginning, sought to project to voters.   His schedule over the course of a 16-hour day was also an expression of that confidence.   In between Tennessee and Arkansas, his campaign plane touched down in Wisconsin and Iowa, and while any one of those four states could wind up providing the key to a Bush victory, none have as many electoral votes as such battlegrounds as Michigan and Pennsylvania.   But they are genuine tossups that were initially predicted to be much more hospitable to Gore. By visiting them Monday, Bush emphasized the breadth of his appeal and the sometimes surprising vulnerability of the vice president.   He did not let his assertion of strength and confidence distract him from the important business of beseeching supporters to grant him victory. With just 24 hours before Election Day, Bush in many ways stripped campaigning to its essence: coaxing and cajoling, pleading and persuading.   ``I want you to understand that I can't win without you,'' Bush told a crowd of more than 1,000 people at a convention center in Green Bay, Wis. ``I hope you redouble your efforts to make sure people get out to the polls.''   Minutes later, he added: ``When you go out there and tell the folks where we stand on the issues and where we stand when it comes to bringing people together to get things done, and you tell them that the core of this campaign is the inherent trust in the American people, I believe it doesn't matter what political party they're in. They're going to come our way.''   In Chattanooga, Bush repeatedly needled Gore, which was much of the point of going to Tennessee, where Gore is not at all certain to prevail on Tuesday.   The Texas governor claimed that Gore's decades of experience in Washington had estranged him from the rest of the country by making him too trusting of federal government and too fond of federal spending.   ``My opponent vows to carry his home state,'' Bush said. ``He may win Washington, D.C., but he's not going to win Tennessee.   ``He forgot his roots,'' Bush added. ``He forgot where he's from. He trusts Washington. We trust the people.''


KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ The ruling Taliban militia on Monday released 137 Shiite Muslim prisoners it had held for nearly two years and urged the opposition to follow suit and release government prisoners it is holding.   The freed men, all said to be fighters belonging to the opposition alliance, were released ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when devout Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.   ``The prisoners are being released as a gesture of kindness'' by the Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, said the Taliban's Interior Minister Abdul Razzak Akhund. ``We ask the opposition to show their heart and release government prisoners in their jails.''   The opposition alliance, which controls barely five percent of Afghanistan and is fighting a war against the dominant Taliban, is mostly made up of the country's minority ethnic and religious groups.   The Taliban are predominantly Sunni Muslim, which is the majority Islamic sect in the country.   The Taliban have been accused by international human rights groups of mistreating the minority Shiite Muslims, a charge they reject.   The newly released prisoners were captured when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan's central Bamyan province, nearly two years ago. The area is largely inhabited by minority Shiite Muslims.   ``I am very happy to be going home,'' said Ali Jan, one of the prisoners who said he was a farmer in Bamyan and not a soldier.


From BBC News in London, I am Gregor Craigy for The World. A Singapore Airlines 747 flying from Taiwan to Los Angeles has crashed. Flight SQ006 was carrying 179 passengers and crew when it crashed in flames shortly after take off. At least 65 people are known to have been killed and around 30 passengers remain unaccounted for. David Chezan reports.   Survivors from the Singapore Airlines flight described how the plane was taxing down the runway when there was a loud noise and the aircraft split in two. An American passenger said he had almost decided not to board the plane because of what he called unbelievable wind and rain. Survivors described how the tail section turned over several times, leaving passengers hanging by their safety belts, some were quickly engulfed by flames. One survivor described saying a man, as he put it, "lit up like a torch." "Flames shot up right next to me and there was jet fuel all over the place," he said. David Chezan, BBC News.


&LR; (ART ADV: Photo _ NYT8 _ is being sent to NYT photo clients. Graphic is being sent to NYT graphics clients. Nonsubscribers can make one-time purchases by calling 888-603-1036 or 888-346-9867.) &QL; &UR; By LAURENCE ZUCKERMAN &QC; &LR; &QL; &UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &QC; &LR; &QL;    Booking Your Ticket:   _ Fly nonstop. The fewer connections you make, the lower the chance that you will suffer a delay.   _ Pick airports with care. If you have to connect, choose the least-congested airport possible; some airports, like Chicago O'Hare and La Guardia in New York, experience chronic delays. Take into consideration the weather and the season; an airport in the South might have fewer winter snowstorms but more spring and summer thunderstorms.   _ Check times between connecting flights. Airlines often book tight connections and do not take responsibility if you miss yours. Assume each leg of your flight will arrive late, and book connections that allow ample time.   _ Check on-time records. The Transportation Department requires major domestic airlines to make the on-time record for every flight available to consumers. You can check online at www.dot.gov/airconsumer. That site also reports each airline's on-time record for the previous month.   _ Travel on off-peak days and at off-peak times. Saturday is usually the least-traveled day of the week; so are major holidays. Monday mornings and Friday afternoons are peak travel times for business travelers. Flights leaving earlier in the day are less likely to be delayed, because of the cascading effect that disruptions have on airline schedules.   _ Use smaller airports. Instead of Los Angeles International, for example, consider flying into Burbank or John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., or use Westchester County Airport instead of JFK in New York.   _ Avoid electronic tickets. Though they are convenient and more secure than an easily lost paper ticket, they are not transferable between most airlines if you need to switch carriers because of delays.   _ Watch for labor disruptions. Check newspapers and Web sites like www.thenewfoundlandgroup.com to identify airlines experiencing labor strife, which often increases cancellations and delays.   _ Leave a number. Make sure the airline you book with has a phone number at which you can be notified of delays or cancellations.   _ Use a travel agent. A good one can be a great ally in the event of a problem _ and may save you time and money.   Day of Departure:   _ Be informed. Check your flight's status before heading to the airport. Automated telephone services or airline Web sites often provide more up-to-date information than do ticket agents. The Federal Aviation Administration's Web site, www.fly.faa.gov, has real-time information on operations at the biggest airports.   _ Pack defensively. Take along a change of clothes and a toothbrush in your carry-on bag. If traveling with an infant, take 24 hours' worth of diapers and extra formula. When possible, avoid checking luggage, in case you need to switch flights or carriers. Ship your gifts ahead.   _ Educate yourself. Find out what your airline promises to do for passengers in the event of a delay. Print out a copy of the policy from the airline's Web site, and carry it with you _ in case the airline representatives need a reminder.   If a Flight Is Delayed:   _ Keep your cool. Becoming angry at airline personnel is counterproductive. Sympathy for their plight will sometimes produce results.   _ Don't stand in line. To get on another flight, it is often more effective to call the airline from the airport than to wait at the ticket counter. Carry a cell phone; if delays are widespread, public telephones may be in demand.   _ Check the competition. If another airline has seats to your destination, ask your airline to endorse your ticket to the other line.   _ Get what you paid for. If you paid full fare or are a high-mileage frequent flier, let the airline know. Your odds of getting a seat on the next flight out will increase, or the airline might pay for your hotel, if you are delayed overnight.   _ Consider driving. If the last leg of your flight is a 200-mile hop, renting a car might be a better choice than waiting out a delay.   Getting Even:   _ Write a letter. The airlines have pledged to respond to consumer complaints within 60 days. They almost always offer a refund, reimbursement of expenses, a discount on your next ticket _ or all three. Be sure to save the relevant paperwork.   _ Make it a federal case. Send a copy of your letter to Washington. Complaints are charged against each airline in the Transportation Department's monthly Air Travel Consumer Report and serve as a basis for rule making and enforcement action. Write to:   Aviation Consumer Protection Div. (C-75)   Department of Transportation   400 Seventh St. S.W.   Washington, DC 20590


(ART ADV: Photo NYT1 is being sent to NYT photo clients. Nonsubscribers can purchase one-time rights by calling 888-603-1036 or 888-346-9867.) &QL; &UR; By BEN RAINES &QC; &LR; &QL; &UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &QC; &LR; &QL;    Swarms of jellyfish consumed so many fish eggs and larvae in the Gulf of Mexico this summer that some scientists are talking about the potential for serious future threats to commercial and recreational fisheries in the northern Gulf.   The jellyfish, a native species and an invading one, appeared in prime spawning areas just as breeding season for many of the Gulf's most important species kicked into high gear.   According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the number of jellyfish in the Gulf has been rising for at least 13 years. Scientists say the jellyfish are exploiting three major human-induced changes in the environment: thousands of oil rigs and artificial reefs established to attract game fish have greatly increased the breeding habitat for jellyfish, which need a hard surface for spawning; nitrogen pollution from farm runoff and industrial sources feeds plankton blooms, providing extra food for jellyfish; and commercial fishermen take great numbers of menhaden, a soft-finned, bony fish that competes with jellyfish for the plankton.   Dr. Monty Graham, a researcher at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, worries that with all these advantages jellyfish cannot help but multiply at an astonishing rate.   Making matters much worse, he said, is the advent of Phyllorhiza punctata, or Australian spotted jellyfish. The giant species, previously unreported in the Gulf, is a 25-pound bruiser of a jellyfish native to the Pacific.   Some time ago the basketball-size jellyfish established themselves in the Caribbean. This summer, after apparently riding ocean currents north, they concentrated themselves in the passes between the barrier islands that separate the Mississippi Sound from the Gulf of Mexico.   The Australian jellyfish have now mostly died off in the Gulf. But fishery scientists worry that they may already have affected next year's fish populations. And scientists say the animals were spawning prodigiously, broadcasting millions of their own eggs as they ate the eggs and larvae of native species.   Popular sport fish, including redfish, speckled trout, white trout and Spanish mackerel, as well as commercially important species like crabs and menhaden, spawn just outside the barrier islands. This year, their eggs and larvae had to drift with tidal currents through the jellyfish-choked passes to reach the estuaries that serve as nurseries for the baby fish.   ``These things are incredibly efficient at turning the water over, cleaning it of everything in it,'' Graham said. ``We're finding them with 200 fish eggs in their guts.''   The newcomers had a frighteningly effective feeding pattern that involved swimming to the surface, then diving down to the bottom, scouring the water of virtually every living thing smaller than a BB pellet. After flowing through the jellyfish gantlet, scientists said, the water was almost devoid of living things.   ``You really have two problems in terms of commercially important fish,'' said Harriet M. Perry, director of the fisheries section of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Mississippi. ``First the jellies are ingesting the larvae and eggs of these commercially important species, and then the fish larvae must compete with these incredibly efficient jellies for the same food source.''   Perry said she worried that the Phyllorhiza might become permanent residents. Graham said he feared that their offspring might appear in larger numbers next spring.   He noted, though, that the newcomers represented a small threat compared with the monstrous herds of native moon jellyfish still swarming offshore below Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana in a huge swath roughly 100 miles long and 30 miles wide.   It is these jellyfish that worry Dr. Joanne Lyczkowski-Shultz, a larval specialist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.   Lyczkowski-Shultz said the long-term picture might be bleak if the jellyfish populations continued to grow at their current pace. ``It could be totally devastating,'' she said.


Gaza 11-15 (AFP) -  A Palestinian medical source reported today Wednesday that more than fifteen Palestinians were injured this morning in the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in clashes with the Israeli army.   Medical sources said "at least 15 Palestinians were injured by live bullets fired by Israeli soldiers, including six children all shot in the head."   Eyewitnesses said the clashes broke out when the Israeli army began bulldozing Palestinian land near the border with Egypt and opened fire randomly on Palestinian citizens when they threw stones at the soldiers in protest. An Israeli tank also fired a rocket.   Elsewhere, Israeli bulldozers dug up dozens of hectares of Palestinian farmland near the village of Alkarara (near the Kosovim checkpoint) last night for the second day in a row, destroying two houses and a well, where the army erected a new military camp instead.   The town's authorities said last night the Israeli army dug up several hectares planted with orange trees in southern Gaza (Nitsarim).   The bulldozing of land began the night before last when an Israeli soldier was killed in a shooting incident in the area.


&UR; By JAMES DAO &LR; &QC; &QL; &UR; c.2000 N.Y. Times News Service &LR; &QC; &QL;    WASHINGTON _ Ralph Nader may not be feeling any regrets about his Green Party presidential campaign, but some visitors to the chat room on Nader2000.org, Nader's official campaign website, sounded as if a bad hangover had come crashing down on them.   There was this entry, for instance, posted Thursday morning by a writer named ``wreckz'':   ``I, too, feel I should apologize to America. I was duped. Ralph Nader's enjoyment of all of this is an indication of a man more concerned with vindictive politics than the future of our country and planet. I am no longer a member of the Green Party. Instead, I'm a member of the green movement _ a movement without Ralph Nader.''   Or this one, also posted Thursday morning, from ``Noni'':   ``I saw an interview with Ralph Nader today and he seemed to be enjoying what has happened! I've never seen him smile so broadly. I regret my support. Nader, you're a well-intending man and I agree with most of your positions. But the symbolic run for the White House has destroyed our Party and our cause. Very bad things are in our future. You should not be smiling. And we, the misled, should feel shame for what we've done.''   The remarks expressed fears that votes for Nader may have put Gov. George W. Bush in a position to defeat Vice President Al Gore. In Florida, where Gore trailed Bush by only a few hundred votes Thursday, a shift of just a fraction of Nader's 95,000 votes could have given the state, and the White House, to Gore, the most likely major-party alternative for Nader's supporters.   John Ruth, for example, wrote on the Nader2000 site Thursday morning that he voted for Nader because he thought they ``shared a common goal'' but that he was now regretting it.   `` Gore (despite what you have said) is NOT an environmental clone of G.W. Bush. Because of your actions and statements prior to Nov. 7th, we are on the brink of a Bush presidency. No money, no support, no respect for you, Ralph, ever again!''   And in Oregon, a state that was still too close to call Thursday afternoon, Nader won about 5 percent of the vote _ enough to cause some Nader voters to feel morning-after qualms.   Julie Quastler, 28, who voted for Nader in Portland, said on Wednesday that she was feeling ``a little alarmed and disappointed'' that Bush seemed on the brink of winning the presidency _ suggesting that she did not accept Nader's assertion that the two parties were equally bad.   ``I'm just so sad,'' she said. ``Bush is probably going to be our president and Nader didn't get his 5 percent. It seems like a lose-lose end result in some ways.'' Winning 5 percent of the vote nationwide would have qualified the Green Party for millions of dollars in federal campaign funds in 2004.   But Quastler, the development director for a nonprofit cafe, said she did not feel guilty about her vote.   ``I voted for Nader because he was most aligned with my values,'' she said.   Of course, there were also countless verbal high-fives among Nader supporters Thursday who felt the Green Party had sent a bracing wake-up call to the two major parties.   ``Stand tall and proud, fellow Nader supporters,'' said one message on the Nader2000 site signed GO LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR SCAPEGOATS.   ``We fought the good fight for what we believed in. This does not make us villains.''   Such sentiments seemed particularly strong in Florida. Dorothy Byrne, a state coordinator for the Florida Green Party, said she had been inundated with angry phone calls and e-mails from Democrats, but has yet to receive one regretful note from a Nader voter.   ``I can see positives for the Greens with either Bush or Gore being president,'' she said. ``If Gore was in, we wouldn't have to worry about women's reproductive rights. But his record on the environment is so abysmal I don't see how Bush can be any worse.''   Barbara Lange, the Everglades chairwoman for the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, said she and other environmentalists voted for Nader because Gore had not taken a stand against the development of a commercial airport near the Everglades.   ``I voted my conscience,'' she said. ``And I'm okay with that.''   Patricia Newell, an organizer for Nader at the University of Florida in Gainesville, said that Nader had won far fewer votes in Florida than his supporters had expected _ due, she said, to ``scare tactics'' by the Democrats.   ``Anyone who voted with Nader on Tuesday knew exactly what they were doing,'' she said. ``On the contrary to feeling guilty, they feel very good about sticking with the candidate that they felt was best.''


Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 1st, by reporter Jingcai Wu  The Weir Group of the US recently signed an implementation agreement in Beijing with Jiangsu Province's Electric Power Department to build China's first large-capacity power plant with liquefied natural gas as fuel.   Aixing Dan, director of the International Co-operation Department of the Electric Power Industry Ministry, on this matter, expressed to Xinhua News Agency reporters today that if this power plant is successful, it will be a model for similar plants to be built along coastal regions.   Coal, water, oil, etc., are normally used for traditional electricity generation.  However, using liquefied natural gas as fuel for joint circulatory electricity generation has advantages of higher power generation efficiency and lower total cost, is beneficial to the environment, etc.  According to presentations, with this type of electricity generation method, a single engine with liquefied natural gas as fuel can produce waste gas with temperatures being as high as 500 to 600 degrees centigrade. This gas in turn can heat a boiler for the production of steam to turn a steam turbine which generates electricity.  Because of the efficiency of this construction method, the electricity generated is relatively competitive in price.  At the same time, using natural gas as fuel will also reduce environmental pollution along coastal regions.   The Weir Group, whose headquarters is in the US, is a large, specialized corporation investing in the area of electricity generation.  The installed capacity of electricity it has invested in and developed globally has reached 15 million kilowatts.  Through the contact of the Yizhong Company of the US, the Weir Group and the Jiangsu Electric Power Department reached an initial agreement on a plan to build a joint circulatory electricity generation plant.  This power plant, which will be situated in Rudong, Jiangsu, has an annual generation capacity of 2.4 million kilowatts. The investment amount is 2.4 billion US dollars. The Chinese side holds 30% of the shares while the Weir Group holds 70%.  According to the agreement, the Weir Group will be responsible for the supply of natural gas from the international market for use by the power plant.   Renzu Luo, managing director of the Weir Group, is optimistic over the prospect of using liquefied natural gas as fuel for electricity generation along China's coastal regions.  He holds that according to the experience of Asian energy market development, liquefied natural gas has become the main material of clean fuel used for electricity generation. When the gross national product per capita reached 3000 US dollars in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, etc., environmental protection awareness generally rose, and all began to obviously increase usage of electricity generated by liquefied natural gas.  As the gross national product in China's coastal regions begins to approach this benchmark, it can be said to have had the conditions for electricity generation using natural gas in terms of financial resources.   John Weir, president of the Weir Group who visited China with US Minister Brown and signed this agreement for electricity generation plant construction in Jiangsu, held that now is the best time to develop a project of joint circulatory electricity generation plant with natural gas as fuel in China. Both parties, the US and China, will invest more time, money and resources to make this power plant project a successful model.  (End)


LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) _ The wife of Patrick Roy, the NHL's winningest goalie, called 911 because she was afraid of what her husband would do as they argued about in-laws, according to a police report released Monday.   Michele Roy was not hurt during the dispute at their home early Sunday, but Roy admitted pulling a bedroom door off its hinges and damaging another after his wife called Greenwood Village police and hung up without speaking, the report said.   The somber Colorado Avalanche goalie, accompanied by his parents, sister and brother, stood with his hands clasped behind his back during a brief court appearance.   The initial hearing was postponed until Nov. 7. Roy remained free on a $750 bail and left by a side door without comment. His wife was absent.   The judge also issued a restraining order that is standard in domestic-dispute cases, which requires Roy to refrain from alcohol and illegal drugs and possession of guns or weapons. He was permitted to return home to his family and is allowed to travel with the team to out-of-state games.   After the Avalanche's practice, Roy read a brief statement, noting that he could not comment on his arrest on the advice of his lawyer. He also asked that the public respect his family's privacy.   ``Obviously, this is creating a distraction, and my wish is that this distraction will be over soon,'' he said. ``I am thankful for the support I am getting from my family and every one of my teammates.''   Colorado players showed unified support for Roy, saying they believe he will remain focused after an eight-game (6-0-2) unbeaten streak to start the season. The team's next game is at home Wednesday against Nashville.   ``We've always stuck together and we'll stick by Patrick,'' defenseman Ray Bourque said. ``We know he is a quality person and a great family man.''   Defenseman Aaron Miller said, ``Until we find out exactly what's going on, we're not going to let it bother us or distract us. I think I speak for the whole team that we're behind Patty 100 percent.''   Roy, 35, was arrested and charged Sunday with misdemeanor criminal mischief which occurred during an act of domestic violence.   If convicted, he faces a maximum of one year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine, said a spokesman for the Arapahoe County district attorney's office.   Officers responded to the 911 hang-up call at Roy's residence, where Michele Roy told them the two had been arguing.   Roy was honored Friday night for winning his 448th game three days before, a 4-3 victory in overtime against the Washington Capitals. He broke the mark set by Terry Sawchuk.


London 10-16 (AFP) -  A Saudi Airways spokesman in London announced that passengers on the Saudi 777 Boeing, hijacked to Baghdad on Saturday and which arrived in Riyadh yesterday evening Sunday, left the Saudi capital for London at 2h43 local time (GMT 22h43), approximately 30 hours after the hijacking operation by two Saudi hijackers began.   The Boeing arrived at Riyadh International Airport at 21h30 yesterday Sunday from Baghdad through Jordanian air space with 104 passengers on board, including 14 crew members.  Saudi Airways said Saturday that 40 British, 14 Saudis, 15 Pakistanis, 4 Yemenis and 4 South Africans, 2 Kenyans and an American, Frenchman, Spaniard, Swiss, Swede, Nigerian, Indian, Omani, Palestinian and Lebanese were on board the plane.


From BBC News in London, I am Gregor Cragy for The World. The US Supreme Court has held a hearing to decide whether to intervene in the dispute over the presidential election results. Judith Spencer reports on the legal wrangling that is underway.   Inside the stately Supreme Court building, lawyers for Republican George W. Bush and Democrat AL Gore argued over the validity of hand re-counts in the crucial state of Florida, just as Ruth Bater Ginsburg pressed Bush's lawyer to explain why the Federal High Court should intervene in the Florida Supreme Court's move to extend the deadline for finishing the re-counts.   When we read a State court decision, we should read it in the light most favorable to the integrity of the State Supreme Court.   But later on, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor suggested the State court might have been out of line.   The legislature had very clearly said, you know, 7 days after, that's the date and it just does look like very dramatic change made by the Florida court.   The US Supreme Court could rule on the matter as early as tomorrow. For The World, I am Judith Spencer in Washington.   Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from Al Gore for an immediate re-count of thousands of disputed ballots from Palm Beach and Miami Dade counties.


MOSCOW (AP) _ Russian lawmakers on Friday overwhelmingly approved the Soviet anthem as Russia's national hymn _ a move praised by some as a gesture of reconciliation and denounced by others as a symbolic approval of the nation's totalitarian past.   The State Duma, or lower house of parliament, voted 381-51 to approve the bill, which was strongly backed by President Vladimir Putin. The move restored the old anthem's music by composer Alexander Alexandrov but not the original text that included praise for Communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin.   By the same strong majority, the Duma approved legislation formally endorsing the country's current white-red-and-blue flag as Russia's official flag. That legislation also brings back the Soviet-era red banner as the military's flag and retains the Czarist double-headed eagle as the state emblem.   Putin has said the mixture of old Russian and Soviet symbols would mend bitter rifts in society by paying tribute to the positive heritage of both periods. He referred to opinion polls showing that most people prefer Alexandrov's music to a melody by 19th-century composer Mikhail Glinka, which has been Russia's anthem since the 1991 Soviet collapse.   Liberal politicians and many leading cultural figures have strongly opposed the reinstatement of the Soviet anthem, saying it symbolized political repression.   ``We strongly protest against the Stalinist anthem, which is stained by the blood of millions of victims,'' said Grigory Yavlinsky, the head of the liberal Yabloko faction.   Yabloko and another liberal faction, the Union of Right Forces, said they might appeal Friday's vote in the Constitutional Court. The Duma usually hears speeches by faction leaders before a vote, but this time lawmakers skipped the debate _ a move the liberals described as a procedural violation.   ``For the first time, the opposition was refused the right to speak out,'' Yavlinsky said. ``The presidential administration and Communists were afraid of our arguments against the Soviet anthem.''   Former President Boris Yeltsin has joined other critics of the move to restore the anthem. He said in an interview published Friday in the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda that the solemn music recalls Communist Party congresses, not Soviet sports victories and achievements in space, as Putin had said.   ``I'm categorically against the restoration of the Soviet anthem,'' Yeltsin said.   Communists and other hard-liners had opposed the tricolor flag and the eagle as a vestige of the Czars, forcing Yeltsin to approve them by decree. But they agreed to abandon their criticism and back formal approval for the symbols in response to the reintroduction of the Soviet anthem.   No conclusive version of new lyrics for the old music has been approved yet. The Duma asked Putin to set up a panel to consider the text and submit the final version for its approval.   During Friday's debate, Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov said officials had received an anonymous telephone call saying a bomb had been planted in the building. Lawmakers ignored it and continued their session as police officers with sniffer dogs searched the premises.


COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) _ Joseph Conrad Parkhurst, who founded the motorcycle magazine Cycle World in 1962, has died. He was 74.   Parkhurst had lung cancer and died Tuesday as a result of a blood clot in his lung, his wife Claire Parkhurst told the Los Angeles Times for Sunday editions.   Cycle World brought objective journalism to motorcycle periodicals by offering road tests and a more critical eye than other fan-oriented magazines, said analyst Don Brown of DJB Associates LLC of Irvine.   In its first year, Cycle World became _ and remains _ the largest motorcycle magazine in the world, Brown and others said. It boasts a monthly circulation of 315,000 and its closest rival is the German magazine Das Motorrad.   ``Joe was a true pioneer in our business,'' said current Cycle World publisher Larry Little. ``It was kind of a breaking of a good old boy network of American motorcycles. Joe did not shun the Japanese makers.''   Born in Jonesboro, Ark., on Oct. 20, 1926, Parkhurst moved with his family to California. He served in 1954-56 as a clerk in an Army Reserves office, then took a job as art director of Road & Track magazine in Newport Beach.   He later quit to spend a year traveling in Europe and returned to become art director of Carting World, a go-cart magazine, in 1960. While working, Parkhurst began dreaming of Cycle World.   He thought that Road & Track's consumer approach could serve motorcyclists, said Joe Rusz, a senior editor at Road & Track. Parkhurst also loved riding motorcycles and once told a friend that he ``could never find something worthwhile to read about them,'' Little said.   Parkhurst later merged with another company that owned Road & Track to become Bond/Parkhurst Publishing. He sold both magazines in the early 1970s, said his wife of 22 years. Since 1979, he has written and published the Motorcycle Business Newsletter, a biweekly for industry insiders.   In addition to his wife, Parkhurst is survived by a brother, John Parkhurst of Hemet. A memorial is planned for January.


The latest in a series of storms spread fresh snow across the upper Midwest on Monday, closing schools and disrupting travel.   Up to 8 inches of snow had fallen by midday at Rockwell, Iowa, and more than 4 inches had fallen on southern Minnesota.   An area of low pressure area over the Midwest carried light to moderate snow across parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.   Schools and some businesses closed in parts of Nebraska. Snowplows were pulled off the roads in northeastern Nebraska's Cuming County during the morning because of hazardous driving conditions and snowdrifts.   Travel was discouraged in Minnesota as blowing snow cut visibility to less than half a mile and about three dozen school districts canceled classes. Wisconsin also had scattered school closings.   A line of mixed precipitation trailed southward from the storm system, spreading scattered show showers and freezing rain into western sections of Kentucky and Tennessee.   Farther south, scattered rain showers extended across Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana and into eastern Texas.   Those showers were expected to move eastward into Alabama, Georgia, and northwestern Florida during the night.   Farther west, isolated snow showers were scattered over parts of Wyoming, western South Dakota, eastern Colorado, and western sections of Nebraska and Kansas.   In the Northeast, a few light snow showers were scattered from Pennsylvania across upstate New York into northern New England.   Elsewhere, fog formed in some western parts of Washington, and showers were expected to move into the region from the Pacific.   Monday's temperatures around the Lower 48 ranged from a morning low of 11 below zero at Phillips, Wis., to midday readings of 77 at Oceanside, Calif., and Brownsville, Texas. The lowest wind chill was 58 below at Jamestown, N.D.   ___   On the Net:   National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/graphicsversion/bigmain.html   Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com   Weather Channel: http://www.weather.com


Baghdad 11-15 (AFP) -  The head of the French Interests Section in Baghdad, Ambassador Andre Janier, today Wednesday welcomed Iraq's decision to deal in euros and said this would encourage relations between the two countries.   In an interview in today's edition of the official newspaper "al-Jamhouriya," Janier said "we French believe this decision is positive for the international economy, and this decision encourages economic relations, especially in terms of oil, between Iraq and France."   The French diplomat carried on to say "we have a vested interest in this matter as Europeans and French because all trade payments and exchanges are paid in euros and there is no danger to European and French companies because of fluctuations in the price of the dollar on the stock exchange. This compensates for any loss in buying and selling in euros rather than dollars."   Iraq decided to deal in euros, rather than the dollar, as of the sixth of this month for its oil sales and outside trade deals.


LONDON (AP) _ After three defeats in the House of Lords, Britain's Labor government resorted to rarely used powers Thursday to pass legislation lowering the age of consent for homosexuals from 18 to 16.   House of Commons speaker Michael Martin said he was invoking the Parliament Act to force through a Sexual Offenses Bill that makes the age of consent the same for both homosexuals and heterosexuals. It became law after being given Royal Assent by Queen Elizabeth II.   Lawmakers in the House of Commons overwhelmingly approved the bill earlier this year, but the House of Lords this month rejected it for the third time.   The Lords' powers, however, are limited to delaying legislation by blocking it and bouncing it back to the House of Commons. The Parliament Act was created to ensure that the will of the country's elected lawmakers prevails.   The bill brings Britain in line with most other European Union nations.   ``It is a reform which, in my personal view, is long overdue and is only right for a country that has a history of reform and challenging prejudice,'' said Home Secretary Jack Straw, Britain's top law enforcement officer.   ``This act will help us to build a safe, just and tolerant society,'' he added.   Angela Mason, director of the gay rights group Stonewall, said Parliament's action was ``a great step toward equality.''   ``When the history books come to be written I believe it will be seen as the moment when this country finally began to change, when lesbians and gay men started to take our place as equal members of society,'' she said.   Peter Tatchell, of the group OutRage!, said: ``This victory is a welcome and historic milestone in the long struggle for gay human rights.''   ``My only regret is that it has taken 33 years during which time hundreds of gay men have been unjustly jailed for victimless relationships.''   However, family values campaigner and Conservative ex-Leader of the Lords Baroness Young accused the government of behaving in a ``completely dictatorial manner'' toward Parliament.   Straw dismissed the criticism. ``In the circumstances I believe that the use of the Parliament Act in this case is proper and justified,'' he said.   Five years ago, Parliament narrowly rejected lowering the age of consent for homosexuals to 16, reducing it instead from 21 to 18. Homosexual sex between adults ceased to be a crime in Britain three decades ago.


WASHINGTON (AP) _ Fossil remains of a 120 million-year-old bird with unique feathers cast doubt on the theory of birds evolving from dinosaurs, some experts say, but others disagree.   Two Chinese researchers report that a fossil called Protopteryx _ from a group of flying animals called Enantiornithine _ includes feathers that are ``different from those of all other known fossil and modern feathers.''   Fucheng Zhang and Zhonghe Zhou of the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggest in the journal Science that the discovery supports the idea that feathers evolved from scales, like those found in reptiles. The study was to be published Friday.   Some researchers who oppose the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs embraced the new fossil as proof that birds and dinosaurs evolved independently from a common reptilian ancestor.   But others say Protopteryx adds nothing to the dino-bird debate.   ``There is nothing in the skeleton of this bird that disputes the dinosaur origin of birds,'' said Thomas R. Holtz Jr., a University of Maryland paleobiologist and specialists on bird evolution. ``The fact that this Protopteryx has these weird flat feathers really doesn't affect that issue.''   Alan Feduccia, an evolutionary biologist at the University of North Carolina, said the Chinese study of Protopteryx ``is a hot paper ... that directly contradicts the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs.''   The new fossil was unveiled the day after researchers announced that another ancient Chinese bird, called Microraptor zhaoianus, supported the dinosaur origin of birds.   In the study, Zhang and Zhou described the feather and bone structure found in a fossil of a starling-sized bird uncovered in northern China, the site of many dinosaur fossil finds.   The Chinese researchers said the feathers have some of the characteristics of modern feathers, but the structure is more primitive than feathers found on Archaeopteryx, the earliest known bird.   Archaeopteryx appeared about 145 million years ago, while Protopteryx was dated as more recent, about 120 million years ago. Microraptor, which was about the size of a crow, lived about 125 million years ago.   Some elements of the Protopteryx wing bone and muscle structure match those of modern birds, said Zhang and Zhou, but the wing retains a claw found on some primitive birdlike animals. In modern birds, that claw has disappeared and been replaced with a structure that adds lift to the wing. Nonetheless, Protopteryx is thought to have been a competent flier.   Most dinosaur researchers believe birds evolved 150 to 180 million years ago from a dinosaur group called Theropods. Researchers cite fundamental skeleton similarities to support the theory. The evolution of feathers, however, has been less clear.   Some experts believe feathers evolved specifically to support flight, while others say feathers evolved first to provide warmth or protection from water.   Fossils of three theropods bear hairlike images that some say could be the early precursors to feathers.   But Feduccia dismisses the theropod hair as ``dino fuzz'' and cites the Zhang and Zhou paper as proof that feathers evolved from reptilian scales and that this could mean that birds evolved independent of dinosaurs.   ``Bird feathers are very closely related to scales,'' said Feduccia. ``It is clear they evolved from elongated scales. Dino fuzz has nothing to do with feathers.''   Larry Martin, a University of Kansas paleontologist, said the Chinese researchers' paper ``is the strongest evidence yet that bird feathers evolved for flight and that they were derived from scales.''   Holtz, however, notes that Protopteryx, with its primitive feathers, lived millions of years after Archaeopteryx, which had feathers almost identical to those of modern birds.   ``This means the feathers on Protopteryx were probably an evolutionary reversal,'' said Holtz, adding that there are many examples where such reversals occur in nature.   ``This just shows that feathers are extremely adaptable structures,'' he said.   Michael Novacek, a dinosaur expert at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, says that the Zhang and Zhou study is ``ambiguous'' on the issue of dinosaurs and birds.   ``The fact that you see a resemblance between scales and feathers doesn't eliminate dinosaurs as close relatives to birds,'' said Novacek. He, too, said that evolution reversals are not rare. He said, for example, that whale ancestors lived on land and had fur, but evolution carried the huge mammals back to the sea.   Holtz said the Zhang and Zhou study is important because it adds new understanding about the Enantiornithine, a bird group that dominated the latter part of the age of dinosaurs.   ``The Enantiornithine got clobbered in the extinction event'' that killed off the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, he said.   This was followed by the dominance of another bird group, the Ornithurae, which later evolved into modern birds, said Holtz.   ___   On the Net:   Science journal: http://www.eurekalert.org   Dinosaurs: http://www.micro.utexas.edu/courses/mcmurry/spring98/21/justin.html