MIRANT TO PAY $12.5 MILLION IN SETTLEMENT WITH REGULATOR
Date: 07 December 2004
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Mirant Corp, neither admitting nor denying wrongdoing, agrees to pay $12.5 million to settle charges by Commodity Futures Trading Commission that Mirant Americas Energy Marketing unit falsely reported natural gas trades and tried to manipulate fuel prices (S)
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TIME WARNER MAY PAY A DIVIDEND, ITS CHIEF SAYS
Date: 07 December 2004
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Chief executive Richard Parsons says Time Warner may give some of its $6.9 billion in cash back to shareholders in form of dividend (S)
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Technology Briefing | Telecommunications: F.C.C. To Delay Digital TV Vote
Date: 07 December 2004
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell reportedly expects to postpone until early 2005 vote on his plan to convert American television system to digital technology by January 2009 (S)
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Technology Briefing | Hardware: 3Com Revenue Misses Forecast
Date: 07 December 2004
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
3Com Corp reports second-quarter revenue missed its forecast; loss for period ended November 26 is as much as $153 million (S)
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Technology Briefing | Deals: SkyTerra Buys Stake In DirecTV Unit
Date: 07 December 2004
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
DirecTV Group sells 50 percent stake in new unit that includes Hughes Network Systems business to SkyTerra Communications for about $251 million in cash; graph (S)
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Flu Vaccine Agreements
Date: 07 December 2004
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
ID Biomedical Corp reportedly signs distribution agreements with Henry Schein Inc, AmerisourceBergen Corp and McKesson Corp that may increase US vaccine supply in future flu seasons (S)
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World Business Briefing | Europe: Lens Maker Acquired
Date: 07 December 2004
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
German optical holding company Carl Zeiss and fund managed by EQT Partners agrees to purchase lens maker Sola International for $815 million and assumption of about $285 million in debt (S)
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NEWS SUMMARY
Date: 07 December 2004
INTERNATIONAL A3-17 Two C.I.A. Reports Warn About Situation in Iraq A classified cable sent by the Central Intelligence Agency's station chief in Baghdad has warned that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and may not rebound any time soon, according to government officials. They also said its basic conclusions had been echoed in briefings presented by a senior C.I.A. official. A1 Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld indicated that he expected American troops to withdraw from Iraq within four years, but he cautioned that any final decision hinged on the progress of Iraq's civilian government and security forces. A11 A rift has developed among the major Shiite political groups in Iraq, which could lead to fierce competition for votes in national elections and could alter the religious and political alignment of the countrys new national assembly. A11 Attack on U.S. Consulate Five attackers thought to be linked to Al Qaeda staged a brazen daytime raid on the American Consulate in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, storming through the sprawling compounds fortified gate and starting a three-hour gun battle that left five local embassy employees and four of the attackers dead. A1 No Deal Yet in Ukraine Ukraine's fractious lawmakers reached a tentative agreement on political reforms to end a political stalemate before a new presidential election later this month. But President Leonid D. Kuchma and the two presidential contenders failed to approve the deal. A6 President Vladimir V. Putin adjusted his hard-line position on the presidential election, saying that he would accept the choice of the Ukrainian people and would work with whichever candidate wins. A6 NATIONAL A18-24 Leaders in Congress Reach Final Agreement on Spy Bill Congressional leaders said they had reached final agreement allowing passage of a bill to overhaul the nation's intelligence community and enact the major recommendations of the independent Sept. 11 commission, including the creation of the job of national intelligence director. A1 Fire Damages Maryland Homes A series of suspicious fires in a new development in southern Maryland damaged 40 homes and destroyed 12 in an area carved out of woods near environmentally sensitive wetlands over environmentalists' objections. The F.B.I. is investigating. A18 Interrogation Tactics Faulted The F.B.I. repeatedly criticized ''aggressive interrogation practices'' that its agents observed being used by the military at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a series of confidential memorandums show. A19 Grocery Worker Settlement Three of California's largest supermarket chains and a group of immigrant janitors said they had reached a tentative $22.4 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by the workers, who said they often earned just $3.50 an hour and were never paid overtime. A19 Medicare Regions Released In the first big step to make prescription drug benefits available to the elderly, the Bush administration said it would carve the nation into 34 regions to administer the new Medicare program, which begins in January 2006. A20 Ohio Vote Becomes Official The Ohio secretary of state officially certified that President Bush won the state by 119,000 votes, but an array of groups continued to question the results. A18 NEW YORK/REGION B1-9 Trade Center Insurers Ordered to Pay Double A federal jury said the destruction of the World Trade Center constituted two separate attacks, entitling the developer Larry A. Silverstein to collect up to $2.2 billion, or double the insurance coverage provided by nine insurers at the complex. A1 Welfare Curb for Immigrants A class-action lawsuit expected to be filed today says New York State is violating the federal and state Constitutions by denying standard welfare benefits to impoverished elderly, blind or disabled immigrants. B3 No Reprieve for Serial Killer Gov. M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut refused to grant a reprieve to a serial killer, Michael Bruce Ross, who in January is scheduled to become the first person in the Northeast to be executed in more than 40 years. B1 Neediest Cases B4 SCIENCE TIMES F1-10 Health & Fitness F5 FASHION B10 ARTS E1-14 SPORTSTUESDAY D1-6 New Drug Tests for Baseball An official involved with negotiations between Major League Baseball and the Major League Player's Association said that the two sides have outlined a new drug-testing program that would be significantly more stringent than the existing policy. A1 BUSINESS DAY C1-16 Lenders Pursue Soldiers High-cost money lenders are increasingly making service members a target market. As a result, many military people have become trapped in a spiral of borrowing at high interest rates that can ruin their finances, distract them from their duties and even destroy their military careers. A1 OPEC May Cut Oil Output As OPEC leaders head into their final meeting this year, the topic on the agenda is whether there will be too much oil sloshing around the world next year. C1 Business Digest C1 World Business W1 OBITUARIES A25 EDITORIAL A26-27 Editorials: A U.N. for the 21st century; King Tut, Part 2; Helene Cooper on getting the government out of the Madison Avenue ad business. Columns: Paul Krugman, David Brooks. Crossword E10 Public Lives B2 TV Listings E13 Weather D8
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NEWS SUMMARY
Date: 06 December 2004
INTERNATIONAL A3-15 17 Iraqi Civilians Working For U.S. Slain in Ambush Gunmen ambushed a bus full of unarmed civilians headed to work for the United States military in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, killing 17 and wounding 20 in an attack that underscored the increasing risks faced by ordinary Iraqis who are employed by the occupation force. A1 Secretive Weapons Panel The commission appointed to assess the state of American intelligence on weapons proliferation has been deliberating entirely in secret and may not depart from that practice before it issues a final report. A spokesman defended the closed-door approach, saying that the subjects being reviewed are delicate. A15 Iran Hints at Ploy in Arms Talks Iranian officials have made comments that hint that they have increased their nuclear activities since last year to put Iran in a better position to negotiate with the world. A6 Middle East Relations Warming Egypt released an Israeli convicted of spying, and Israel reciprocated by freeing six Egyptian infiltrators. The exchange reflected the expanding cooperation between the Middle East neighbors after several years of badly strained relations linked to the Palestinian uprising. A12 Lack of Aid Hurting Children A report by the British aid agency Oxfam says that about 45 million children around the world will die in the next decade because rich countries have failed to meet their aid promises. A12 Ukraine Leader Speaks Out President Leonid D. Kuchma of Ukraine said that if he were Prime Minister Viktor F. Yanukovich, he would not run in a new runoff vote for president. Mr. Kuchma also accused the opposition leader, Viktor A. Yushchenko, of prolonging the electoral crisis by breaking a promise to revise Ukraine's political system. A1 Colombian Extraditions Rising President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia's government has extradited more than 170 drug trafficking suspects to the United States. Those extraditions have been used as political leverage both in disarmament negotiations with right-wing paramilitary commanders and in the effort to prod reluctant Marxist rebel groups into peace talks. A3 Sure of a Nuclear North Korea The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, says he is now certain that the nuclear material once monitored in North Korea has been converted into fuel for four to six nuclear bombs. A6 Askew Historical View in China An examination of some of the most widely used history textbooks in China reveal a mishmash of historical details that many Chinese educational experts themselves say are highly selective and often provide a distorted view of the recent past. A10 NATIONAL A16-21 Treasury Secretary Said to Be Leaving President Bush has decided to replace John W. Snow as treasury secretary and has been looking closely at a number of possible replacements, including the White House chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., said Republicans with ties to the White House. A21 The House of Representatives was scheduled to reconvene without any sign of compromise on a sweeping intelligence-overhaul bill sought by President Bush that is being blocked from a final vote by a group of defiant House Republicans close to the Pentagon. A21 Denver Parade Is ProtestedHundreds of Denver-area faithful headed downtown for a mild but determined protest of the city's annual Parade of Lights, which is organized by the local business community. The event normally shuns politics and anything controversial. A16 Tauzin Behind in House Race In South Louisiana, a Republican and a Democrat claimed victory in the final two House contests of the year. Charles Melancon, a former state lawmaker who portrayed himself as an independent Democrat, led Billy Tauzin III, a Republican, by 517 votes. A16 How to Sell a Candidate on TV Strategists for President Bush came to a startling realization: Democrats watch more television than Republicans. This led to an unusual step for a presidential campaign: it cut the proportion of money from broadcast television and diverted more to niche cable channels and radio. A18 President Bush's Short Visits In between appointing new cabinet members, President Bush did a speedy 25-hour drop-by in Canada last week. In Quebec, the president spent only 30 minutes at the National Archives of Canada, where he gazed at portraits of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. A18 Kennedy Center Honorees The honors, in their 27th year, have evolved into a weekend-long celebration of culture and the arts with receptions at the White House and the State Department and a gala event at the Kennedy Center that has become Washington's version of a Hollywood awards show. A21 SCIENCE/HEALTH New Drugs for Blood Cancer Two experimental drugs are showing strong early results in treating patients with a blood cancer that has grown resistant to the most commonly prescribed medicine, doctors reported. A18 F.D.A. Shifts Its Focus Members of Congress have said that the Food and Drug Administration is incapable of uncovering the perils of drugs that have been approved and are in wide distribution. A1 NEW YORK/REGION B1-6 Judge's Lengthy Backlog Leaves Plaintiffs Dangling Judge George B. Daniels of Federal District Court in Manhattan is the king of delayed decisions, statistics show, with 289 motions in civil cases pending for more than six months, the most of any federal judge in the nation. Critics say his approach is the judicial equivalent of a lawyer neglecting a client's case. A1 Lessons From Another State The Kentucky school system, which underwent a court-ordered revamping, offers a cautionary tale of what may lie ahead for New York City schools, which could get $5.6 billion more every year under a court-appointed panel's recommendation. A1 Spitzer's New Agenda Eliot Spitzer, New York's attorney general, is known for taking on big business, not the dysfunctional state government. But now, as he prepares to run for governor in 2006, he has jumped into the fix-Albany debate. B1 An Olympic Ad Blitz New York's Olympic organizers have reserved almost all outdoor advertising space in the city in their bid for the 2012 Summer Games. B1 Neediest Cases B5 OBITUARIES B7 ARTS E1-12 SPORTSMONDAY D1-8 McCain Seeks Drug Legislation Senator John McCain said he plans to introduce legislation that requires some kind of regimen for the testing of Major League Baseball players. D2 BUSINESS DAY C1-18 The Two Faces of China China, in its twin roles as a producer and a consumer, has come to terrify many foreign business executives and attract others -- depending on whether they see the country as a competitor, a cheap source of supply or a market. C1 Universal Health Care Health care experts contend that the United States must inevitably adopt some kind of universal coverage to provide health insurance for the 45 million uninsured Americans. C16 Allegiance to the Mall The United States is now engaged in its greatest age of consumer spending, with consumption absorbing 80 percent of national income, resulting in the production of goods and services migrating overseas. C12 Business Digest C1 World Business W1 EDITORIAL A22-23 Editorials: Saving Iraq's election; talk about Scrooge; the G.O.P. vs. President Bush; new risks for salmon. Column: William Safire. Autos D9 Bridge E8 Crossword E4 Metro Diary B2 TV Listings E11 Weather D11
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Mama, Tell Me the One About Fox News Again
Date: 07 December 2004
By Alessandra Stanley
Alessandra Stanley
Alessandra Stanley reviews first two segments of Sundance Channel and Court TV production of four-part series The First Amendment Project; photo (M)
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