December 21, 2000

The Department of Agriculture has adopted the first standards that the federal government has imposed for the labeling and processing of organic foods. The rules ban the use of irradiation, biotechnology and sewer-sludge fertilizer for any food labeled organic. Article, Page A22.

Mohammad Abequa, who murdered his wife in New Jersey in 1994 and fled to Jordan with their two young children, has been pardoned by Jordanian court after serving five years of 15 year sentence; reaction of family of slain Nihal Abequa express outrage; photo (M)

A 1963 Ferrari GTO sports car that was expected to become most expensive car ever sold at auction fails to reach its reserve price of $10 million at auction at Britain's Bonhams & Brooks in Gstaad, Switzerland (S)

John V Lindsay, two-term mayor of New York during racial unrest, antiwar protests, municipal strikes and other upheavals of 1960's and early 70's, dies at age of 79; his legacy recalled; photos (L)

Pres-elect George W Bush choses Paul H O'Neill, chairman of Alcoa, as his candidate for treasury secretary; Bush taps his longtime friend, Donald L Evans, to be secretary of commerce, names Melguiades R Martinez as housing secretary and Ann M Veneman as agriculture secretary; Bush spends rest of day cleaning out his office at Texas Capitol and meeting with 30 religious figures, including several black ministers, to begin planning how to give religious groups major role in providing social services; Bush will announce his resignation as governor of Texas on Dec 21, and lieutenant governor, Rick Perry, will be sworn in later in day; photos (M)

Article on gay and lesbians who say their parents accept their life styles, but still long for grandchildren; increasing visibility of gay parents and their children parallels advances in reproductive technology and changing adoption laws that are, together, helping to create more family units; photos (M)

Footlights column; art show Some New Minds at PS 1 gallery noted, as well as Andrew Wyeth show at Brandywine River Museum; National Endowment for the Arts gives American Jazz Master awards to John Lewis, Randy Weston and Jackie McLean; photo (S)

Environmentalists generally reacted warmly to news that Gov. Christie Whitman of New Jersey is expected to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Page A37.

Thomas Frank delivers a sweeping, savage and witty indictment of American business in his new book, One Market, Under God; argues that American economy that bloomed in 1990's is sick, that divide between rich and poor has widened and that mechanisms like government regulation and unions that traditionally protect underdogs have been hobbled; skewers libertarian manifestoes, management how-to books, academic gobbledygood, advertisements and finance-oriented cable networks to describe his key bete noire: 'market populism'; photos (M)

Arthur Levitt, longest-serving chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission, says he will resign from commission in mid-February, clearing way for Pres-elect George W Bush to make four appointments to five-member commission early next year; is harshly critical of Wall Street analysts who opposed new SEC regulation aimed at blocking companies from selectively disclosing information to analysts, and of accounting leaders who bitterly fought SEC efforts to place restrictions on amount of accounting work they do for audit clients, interview (M)

PlusFunds.com, Internet site that wants to display values of hedge-fund shares in real time in January, signs its first European participant, Aspect Capital of London; backers of site, including J P Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston, will post updated net asset values for their funds after each trade but will not disclose funds' positions (S)

Japan's Marutomi Group, shoe retailer, files for bankruptcy protection (S)