May 18, 1999

Profile of Fayrouz, beloved Lebanese singer who is making rare public appearance at MGM Grand in Las Vegas; she is Arab world's most famous singer; photo (M)

New York State Legislature rescinds 33-year-old commuter tax imposed on state residents who work in New York City, brushing aside protests by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in apparent effort to influence upcoming suburban elections; measure, which Gov George E Pataki pledges to sign, carves at least $210 million from city's treasury; is approved after members of both parties saw tax cuts bolstering respective candidates in May 25 special election for State Senate seat northwest of city; approximately 800,000 commuters, 58 percent of whom live in New York State, pay tax, which is 0.45 of 1 percent on earned income for most; photo (M)

Janet Maslin reports on this year's Cannes International Film Festival; interviews director Atom Egoyan on his film Felicia's Journey, which is one of festivals most avidly awaited films; photos (M)

Climate experts begin studying patterns of large-scale atmospheric circulation--big, swirling global air currents that dictate where it is warm and cold, wet and dry, and where storms go; some of them say that global warming, instead of producing new patterns, may instead by changing frequency of existing circulation regimes; one study suggests that warming may provoke more frequent appearances of El Nino; another suggests that warming has a connection to more frequent appearances of a circulation regime whose prevailing winds deliver more warmth and precipitation to northern Eurasia and northwestern North America, while generally cooling the US east of the Rockies and drying out southern Europe and the Middle East; drawings (M)

Top investments specialists at Soros Fund Management, hedge fund company headed by billionaire George Soros, are leaving to start their own investment firm; departing managers are Lief D Rosenblatt, Mark D Sonnino and Gabe Nechamkin; they will create new firm called Satellite Asset Management and will be joined by three other Soros employees in special situations group (Market Place column) (M)