February 8, 2001

Advertisers, publishers and online commerce companies warn that barriers to communicating across borders in European Union would be erected by proposed law to govern noncontractural liability in cross-border disputes within union and clarify which nation's laws should apply in dispute involving citizen of one country and company marketing its goods or services, or communicating over Internet, from another; proposed law provides that law in consumer's country should apply in such dispute; such rule would contradict several others, including directive on e-commerce passed in 2000; newspapers that publish online would also be affected, because proposal covers rules on defamation (M)

Allied Domecq offers 945 million New Zealand dollars ($418 million) for Montana Group NZ, New Zealand's biggest winemaker; photo (S)

Archdiocese of New York Archbishop Edward M Egan announces his first major cost-cutting measure, decision to close financially failing high school with dwindling student population in Ulster County, NY; school, John A Coleman Catholic High School, will close at end of school year; photo; map (M)

Bid by nearly two dozen New York City Council members to repeal term limits law explodes into angry ground war at City Hall, with supporters and opponents engaging in face-to-face shouting matches even before bill is formally introduced; measure would overturn results of two voter referendums and let Council members who have served two successive terms run for re-election in November; photo (M)

Article profiles career of Sandra Baldwin, first woman to lead United States Olympic Committee; she discusses ongoing preparations for 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City; photo (M)

Peter R Dolan, president of Bristol-Myers Squibb, is promoted to chief executive officer; will take over for Charles A Heimbold Jr (M)

Slowing economy sharply reduces state tax revenues in the last few weeks, forcing a growing number of states in South and Midwest that depend on sales and manufacturing taxes to cut their budgets for first time in decade; revenue cuts are producing first reductions in education and health care programs in years; by contrast, federal government and states that depend on income and property taxes have yet to feel pinch; tax revenues continue to grow in New York metropolitan area, if more slowly, but income tax revenues would also decline if slowdown produces widespread layoffs; photo (M)

Article discusses problems besetting Seton Hall and basketball player Eddie Griffin (M)

Arts Abroad column on publication of Faceless, unauthorized book of portraits by David Douglas Duncan, celebrated for Korean War images, of his former friend and acclaimed photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, arguably most famous photographer still alive; photos (M)

Hyundai Electronics Industries reports loss of 2.4 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in 2000 despite rapid sales growth; expects to report 8.9 trillion won ($7.1 billion) in revenue for 2000, 48 percent more than in 1999, and operating profit of 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion), more than double previous year's 646 billion won ($510 million) (S)

British Sky Broadcasting Group says pretax first-half losses rose more than fourfold to $389 million; company says it will return to profit by 2003 with seven million customers (S)

Leicester, England, which is expected to have nonwhite majority in 10 years, defines itself as the tolerant, multicultural city of Europe, free from cultural antagonisms and anti-immigrant politics that have occurred elsewhere in Britain and in Europe; had its fair share of skinheads and National Front marchers in 1970's, but racial antagonism lessened when it became apparent that instead of taking away jobs of working-class whites, Leicester's new arrivals were creating employment and services and a retail, wholesale and real estate economy of their own; photos; map (M)