October 25, 1999

On Baseball column discusses lack of hitting by Atlanta Braves in first two games of World Series against New York Yankees (M)

Cable and Wireless Denies It's Ready for a Takeover As the telecommunications industry goes through a whirlwind of merger-and-acquisition activity in the United States and Europe, there is constant speculation that Cable and Wireless of Britain is ripe for a takeover and ready to sell out. The company's chief executive, Graham Wallace, dismisses that notion. He is trying to shift the company's focus away from its consumer businesses toward its business customers. That has meant selling some operations, including a deal announced yesterday to shed its holdings in Israel's state-controlled phone company for $630 million. [Page C4.]

Paul West commentary, latest in Writers on Writing series, recalls as a child visiting his many aunts and uncles; says they spent their days doing nothing but reading, to dismay of his father; says he now realizes that indolence, unconnectedness that seemed his heritage from this family, was foundry where novelist's work gets done; photo (M)

Stephen Johnson, 4-year-old boy who was kidnapped from Manhattan playground and taken to an apartment in Bronx, is released unharmed by his captor, Tony Sanchez, who is later arrested; photo (M)

Consumer and privacy advocates fear that new banking law will give banks and insurance companies unchecked advantage over their customers, because it will allow financial institutions to share not only information on customers' incomes, investments, possessions and credit ratings, but also detailed summations about their private lives; Sen Richard C Shelby contends that privacy protections put into bill are sham; Charlotte Birch of American Bankers Assn contends that ability to share basic information about customers' financial activities is major requirement of banking overhaul; notes that because bank's relationship with customer is built on trust, financial institutions will have incentives to protect their customers' privacy (M)