Also. . .

* Corporate America spent as much as $113 million in an unprecedented campaign to persuade Congress to approve permanent normal trade relations for China, opponents of the bill said in a report. The report, by Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, says that business groups spent $31.2 million lobbying Congress, at least $13.75 million on TV, radio and newspaper advertising, and made $68.2 million in political contributions to boost support for the trade bill, which passed last month. President Clinton is expected to sign it into law this week.

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* Minnesota’s attorney general is suing Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota, accusing the company of violating state consumer and insurance laws. Mike Hatch filed a lawsuit alleging the company engaged in a “pattern of misconduct” in denying medical treatment recommended by doctors for children and young adults suffering from mental illness, eating disorders and chemical dependency. A spokesman for Blue Cross said the company would not comment until they had time to review the lawsuit.

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* The union representing 10,500 American Airlines pilots said it probably will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a judge’s order to pay the carrier $45.5 million for dragging out a 1999 work stoppage. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last month upheld a fine imposed against the Allied Pilots Assn. and its leaders. The judge found that the second-largest U.S. airline, a unit of AMR Corp., lost $45.5 million in revenue after pilots ignored his order.

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