New York Mets defeat Chicago Cubs, 15-8; photo (M)

Piggyback on Hampton Deal, Bell Stands on His Own

Interview with Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado on his new books of photographs documenting why millions of people leave their communities, what happens to them en route and where they end up; photos (M)

In Searing Images, Ravages of Upheaval; Brazilian Chronicles the Toll of Migration

Musicians set to perform at Jazzfest 2000, annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, noted; Sixth Avignon/New York Film Festival at French Institute/Alliance Francaise will present 14 French and American independent feature films and 20 shorts in their United States premieres; exhibition of sculptures and other works by Alexander Calder set for Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn, will trace his years in Connecticut; Shakespeare Society plans hourlong celebration of works of William Shakespeare on his 436th birthday, Central Park; photos (M)

This Week

 Earth Day Special Is No Hit Despite Its Leading Man  Despite a spate of unintended preshow publicity surrounding the participation of Leonardo DiCaprio, ''Planet Earth 2000,'' the hourlong ABC Earth Day special program shown on Saturday night, did not qualify as a hit.    According to preliminary Nielsen Media Research figures -- which are based on viewing in the 47 largest markets and are subject to change -- the special came in last among its major network competitors. ABC News executives said they were standing behind the program despite its ratings. [Page C15.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Television rating sweeps, three special ratings periods when Nielsen Media Research measures all 210 television markets across nation, are facing first serious challenges, although long derided as archaic, destructive and inaccurate; network executives have begun to protest against forced competition of sweeps, system they use because of needs of local and affiliated stations; Nielsen will soon test local version of national rating system in effort to overhaul sweeps; growing antipathy between networks and affiliates could eventually undermine importance of system, which provides basis for advertising fees; ratings graph; table; photos (M)

Who Needs The Sweeps?; TV's Periodic Race for Ratings Seems to Have Lost Its Purpose

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses New York Knickerbockers victory over Toronto Raptors in first game of National Basketball Association playoff series; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Knicks Use Seniority On Young Raptors

Issues of tactics and trust become focus in controversy over government's predawn raid to remove Elian Gonzalez from Miami relatives' home; both Miami relatives and federal government battle to sway public opinion with new details about 48 hours leading up to operation; Justice Dept claims negotiators with close ties to Atty Gen Janet Reno tried until last minutes to broker deal for peaceful transfer of boy to his father; civic leaders sympathetic to Miami family produce draft of six-point proposal to reunite boy and his father, seeking to refute government suggestion that negotiations were hopelessly deadlocked; politicians continue to take sides, with Rep Tom DeLay, Republican, calling for Congressinal hearings into raid; photos (M)

Raid in Miami Opens New Front In Struggle Over the Cuban Boy

Heroin is deadly catalyst in epidemic of HIV infections in Irkutsk, run-down river town of 650,000 in Siberia; region that hardly heard of AIDS year ago has recorded 5,000 new cases of HIV infection and registered more than 8,500 drug addicts, according to official statistics; true figures could be much greater; number of HIV-infected Russians is small so far--33,000 by official estimates, or 300,000 by international estimates--but potential for growth is huge; United Nations joined Russian officials to announce new effort to halt epidemic; virus's spread is accelerating and could move beyond drug users to heterosexual transmission without preventive measures; 40 percent of Russian prostitutes, who often use drugs, are HIV-positive; prostitution and drug use are thriving amid poverty and general breakdowns of law and mores following Soviet Union's collapse; photos; map (L)

Heroin Carries AIDS to a Region in Siberia

New York City police officers say that conditions at many of city's aged and crowded station houses have become paramount councern; when officers tally deprivations of their job, leaking ceilings and peeling paint now occupy place alongside wage issues, second-guessing by superiors and mounting public criticism as prime sources of slumping morale; conditions at several station houses described; photo (M)

Decrepit Station Houses Erode Police Morale, Officers Say

 Nowhere to Run  The Knicks' Marcus Camby, left, and Larry Johnson helped shut down Toronto's Vince Carter in Game 1 of the playoffs. Carter missed 17 shots as the Knicks won, 92-88.   SPORTSMONDAY, PAGE D1    Jordan's King Visits Israel  Abdullah II, on a first official visit to Israel, sought closer economic ties and voiced hope for a breakthrough in talks with Palestinians.   PAGE A7

INSIDE

American labor movement seeks to fend off charges from many economists, business executives and members of Congress that its stand against trade expansion measures is protectionism; critics call labor's across-the-board fight against trade expansion crass effort to protect American jobs by preventing imports from increasing; union officials insist they have jettisoned their past protectionism; say they oppose trade initiatives because they fail to protect rights of foreign workers; AFL-CIO has been most powerful voice against China trade bill, helping sway scores of Democrats, including Richard A Gephardt, House Democratic leader, to oppose it; lawmakers say vote in House is too close to call, largely because of labor's aggressive opposition; labor's outspoken opposition is also complicating matters for Africa trade bill, which would reduce tariffs and quotas on imports from some of world's poorest countries; for three years, labor has blocked Congress's efforts to make it easier for Clinton administration to negotiate extending North American Free Trade Agreement to other countries (M)

UNIONS DENY STAND OVER TRADE POLICY IS PROTECTIONISM

Anthony Tommasini reviews Metropolitan Opera production of Gotterdammerung, conducted by James Levine; focuses on soprano Jane Eaglen; photo (M)

Soprano Dons the Wagnerian Crown in a Musical Coronation

Carl Hiaasen article in Writers on Writing series discusses current events as source of inspiration for his novels; photo (M)

Real Life, That Bizarre And Brazen Plagiarist

New York Philharmonic reportedly is in talks with Riccardo Muti, La Scala Opera music director, on naming him music director when Kurt Masur's contract expires in 2002; is expected to name Zarin Mehta to vacant post of executive director; photo (M)

Muti Said to Be Choice for the Philharmonic Podium

Russ Limbaugh remains top talk radio personality despite apparent decline in his political stature; has been getting less media coverage as talk radio faces increasing competition for consumer attention, and he finds less voter dissatisfaction to tap into; graphs of print media items on Limbaugh and comparing his audience to those of other talk show hosts; photo (M)

Despite Other Voices, Limbaugh's Is Still Strong

New York Knickerbockers defeat Toronto Raptors, 92-88, in first game of National Basketball Association playoff series; photo (M)

Superstar, Still in Waiting: Carter Gets Rude Welcome

Many Internet retailers are switching focus from attracting visitors to Web sites to standard measures of retail success; new stress on near-term revenue and profit reflects shift in stock market emphasis; photo (M)

E-Commerce Report; A New Concept For Web Sellers: Profitability

Clinton administration officials, otherwise considered free traders, may decide to extend heavy tariffs on orange juice from Brazil that have been in place since 1987; nobody grows or squeezes more oranges than Brazil; officials there charge that levies on juice, as high as 63 percent, are protectionist; growers in Florida, heart of America's citrus industry, say tariffs are needed because Brazilian growers do not have to meet health and safety standards as demanding as those in US; say large shipments from Brazil have forced down prices for fresh oranges to less than half what they were decade ago; American trade officials say orange juice tariffs will not be lowered or eliminated unless broad trade agreement is reached with Brazil, as happened with Mexico after implementation of North American Free Trade Agreement; photo (M)

Orange Juice Tariff Hinders Trade Pact For U.S. and Brazil

Peter Denyer, STMicroelectronics NV imaging division technology director, hopes to create new generation of computer chips that might lead to inexpensive, high-resolution still and video cameras; expects that low-cost digital photo capabilities will eventually be used in all sorts of consumer electronics; technology battle pits Denyer and others against makers of more costly sensors, called charged coupled devices, that now dominate digital cameras; diagrams; photos (M)

Chips Promise Digital Images At Lower Cost

Article profiles Worksman Trading, manufacturer of heavy duty bicycles and tricycles; bicycle manufacturing in United States has been on downward spiral for several years and number of manufacturers have dwindled down to handful of relatively small companies and manufacturing boutiques that make expensive high performance models for cycling enthusiasts; Worksman survives by dominating market for what it calls industrial cycles; photo (M)

Surviving the Cycle-Business Downturn; A Maker of Heavy-Duty Bikes Endures in a Fading Industry

Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column discusses career of urban planner Edward Logue following his death on January 27 at age 78; photo (M)

Metro Matters; He Reshaped The Places We Live

Christie's and Sothebys, who between them control 90 percent of auction market worldwide, have swapped their patrician ways for more aggressive business tactics as market mushrooms into $5 billion-a-year global business; this includes contacting families and executors of recently deceased rich New Yorkers, seeking old master paintings, family heirlooms and other goods to feed growing appetite for auctions; federal antitrust investigation of two houses raises questions about whether aggressiveness has crossed line into illegality with agreement between two houses to fix commissions charged to buyers and sellers; modern-day quest for market share and growth has changed these two temples of style and wealth, both of which trace their origins to mid-1700's in London; both have glitzy new Manhattan headquarters; big spenders at next month's major sales at both houses will be able to bid by telephone from luxury and privacy of skyboxes like those at sports stadiums; both houses have introduced new services, from financing puchases for buyers and lending money to sellers to appraising, insuring and even storing valuables; photos (L)

Genteel Auction Houses Turning Aggressive

Some leading health policy experts say Gov George W Bush's health care plan, announced in flurry of domestic policy speeches, has serious weaknesses that Democrats can be expected to exploit; Bush's plan seeks to expand health care coverage through private health care marketplace by giving tax credit of up to $2,000 per family to cover cost of health insurance; health experts say that tax credit falls far short of cost of family health policy; say such policies cost up to $6,000; health experts are also concerned that such tax credits would create incentives for employers to get out of health insurance business; most pervasive criticism is that tax credits are not most efficient way to reach low-income uninsured (M)

Bush's Approach to the Uninsured May Be Vulnerable in Its Details

Political Memo column notes that for second time in two days Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani seized on Elian Gonzalez case to mount harsh attack on President Clinton; he accuses President of coordinating foreign policy with totalitarian regime, of ignoring peaceful means of reuniting boy with his father and of authorizing 'gross reaction' by armed immigration officials who grabbed boy in predawn raid April 22; photo (M)

Political Memo; After U.S. Agents Seize Cuban Boy, Giuliani Seizes an Issue

 DEAR DIARY:       One sunny day I was having a cup of coffee in the outdoor section of a cafe near Lincoln Center. One of three women sitting nearby turned toward me and said they had talked about how lovely I looked. I thanked them and said I was just reflecting on life and celebrating my 80th birthday.  

April 24, 2000

Headlines from April 24, 2000

Piggyback on Hampton Deal, Bell Stands on His Own

In Searing Images, Ravages of Upheaval; Brazilian Chronicles the Toll of Migration

This Week

BUSINESS DIGEST

Who Needs The Sweeps?; TV's Periodic Race for Ratings Seems to Have Lost Its Purpose

Billboard 200

No Strings Attached

Supernatural

Yeeeah Baby

Unleash The Dragon

Romeo Must Die -- The Album

Historical Context for April 24, 2000