March 1, 2000

Cable and Wireless HKT, which is passing out of British hands with Pacific Century Cyberworks's acquisition of company, will still be firmly part of local establishment; company is being bought by nine-month-old company founded by Richard Li, heir to most powerful family dynasty in Hong Kong; there is no hard evidence that Li's political connections were decisive factor in his victory over Singapore Telecommunications; but chairman of Cable and Wireless, Graham Wallace, acknowledges that Li's family ties were attractive; Li's father, Li Ka-shing, is perhaps Hong Kong's most successful tycoon; chart; photo (M)

Interview with Francesca Zambello, American director of Paris Opera's lavish new production of Prokofiev's War and Peace, presented at Bastille Opera; production is warmly received by public and critics despite being, in words of Le Monde, a 'great anti-French epic'; photos (M)

Nassau County Exec Thomas S Gulotta and Board of Assessors Chmn Charles O'Shea, faced with budget deficit estimated at $100 million to $190 million this year and major lawsuit challenging county's antiquated property tax system, reverse course and agree to press for reassessment of 415,000 residential and commercial properties; reversal makes reassessment near certainty; New York Civil Liberties Union, state attorney general's office and Justice Dept have filed suit charging that county's tax system discriminates against black and Hispanic residents; photo (M)

Status of injured New York Knickerbockers basketball players Marcus Camby and Charlie Ward discussed; photo (M)

Bernard Holland reviews Chemnitz Opera production of Kurt Weill's Der Weg der Verheissung (The Eternal Road), conducted by John Mauceri, at Brooklyn Academy of Music; photo (M)