Amanda Hesser article on spaghetti ro puveriello, which translates as poor man's spaghetti or spaghetti with fried eggs; recipes (M)

A Marriage of Convenience

Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, former close aide to Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, testifies under cross-examination in embassy bombings trial that he worked proudly for bin Laden in his war against United States, but later acknowledged telling American agents that bin Laden 'misinterprets certain portions of Koran to justify violent action;' he also sheds new light on internal deliberations of bin Laden's group, called Al Qaeda, over potential bombing targets (M)

Defense Grills Terror Witness On bin Laden

Lisa Belkin column on friendships that form among co-workers and the effort needed to preserve them under strains of workplace and after career paths diverge; drawing (M)

A Special Kind of Officemate

Prudential PLC, one of Britain's largest insurers, will eliminate 2,000 sales jobs over next year to trim costs (S)

PRUDENTIAL TO CUT JOBS

Some 120 wealthy Americans, including Warren E Buffett, George Soros and William H Gates Sr, William H Gates's father, are urging Congress not to repeal taxes on estates and gifts; Gates Sr has organized petition drive arguing repeal would enrich heirs of wealthy while hurting struggling families and cutting charitable giving by affluent seeking to reduce their estates; Buffett says he did not sign petition because it does not go far enough in defending estate tax's key role in spurring economic growth, interview; petition will appear in newspapers ads; signers include David Rockefeller Jr, Steven C Rockefeller, Agnes Gund and Ben Cohen (M)

Dozens of Rich Americans Join In Fight to Retain the Estate Tax

William Grimes column rejects idea that food and sex are intimately connected, which is the premise of multicourse meals that are increasingly being offered by restaurants on Valentine's Day, often packaged as an erotic performance; cartoon (M)

Cupid, Get Out of the Kitchen

Los Angeles Lakers defeat New Jersey Nets, 113-110, in overtime; photo (M)

Marbury and the Nets Make the Lakers Work for It

Newsday, more than five years after closing New York Newsday, to once again venture into New York City competition; editors of Long Island newspaper say they plan to concentrate on coverage of Queens as well as New York City politics and its preoccupations; photo (M)

Newsday Gathers Itself for Another Try at the City

Pres Bush says he plans to break with Pentagon orthodoxy and create new defense architecture, investing in new technologies and weapons systems rather than making 'marginal improvements' for existing systems, speech, Norfolk, Va; stresses he will spend little on new plans until Defense Sec Donald H Rumsfeld completes review of American strategy and military structure; says he will seek only $2.6 billion in next year's budget for added research and development; seems to take sides in military debate about whether to invest in new arms, even if it means neglecting older systems for years until new arms are available; shift should set off scramble for new Pentagon contracts but would face resistance that has made it almost impossible to kill weapons systems already in production; photo (M)

BUSH DETAILS PLAN TO FOCUS MILITARY ON NEW WEAPONRY

Napster officials chart legal and business future in wake of appeals court ruling largely affirming lower court decision that its file-sharing service abets infringement of copyrights held by major record labels; industry analysts say Napster may never become profitable and may eventually fade away; chief executive, Hank Barry, says he does not yet know when Napster will have technology in place to make transition to for-pay membership-based service (M)

Napster Charts A New Course After Ruling

Navy says civilian visitors were at controls of two important stations aboard submarine Greeneville, under supervision of experienced sailors, when it surfaced and sank Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru off Oahu; says it often seats visitors at various controls on such demonstration cruises; John A Hammerschmidt, who leads National Transportation Safety Board probe, describes damage to Greeneville; photo (M)

Civilians in Sub Sat at 2 Controls When Ships Hit

ABB Ltd says profit unexpectedly stagnated in fourth quarter; net income was steady at $219 million; sales fell 2.1 percent, to $6.75 billion; revenue dropped 6 percent for year; graph (S)

ABB HAS DISAPPOINTING RESULTS

Stock of Orange, wireless unit of France Telecom, falls flat in its first day of trading in London and Paris, and closes below its offering price; France Telecom raises just 6.3 billion euros ($5.9 billion) by offering 13 percent of Orange to public, less than half what it had initially expected, though companion offering of convertible bonds is greeted more warmly and raises 2.7 billion euros ($2.5 billion) (M)

In First Day of Trading, Orange Stock Starts Slow and Falls Flat

Article discusses success of Providence College basketball team this season; outlook for game against St John's noted; photo (M)

A Rebuilding Year For a Reputation

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column discusses New Jersey Nets guard Stephon Marbury's 50 point performance in loss to Los Angeles Lakers (M)

Sports of The Times; Marbury Has Another Great Game

Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab Corp are gearing up to introduce do-it-yourself investment portfolios; are experimenting with baskets of stocks they can sell to investors who want alternative to owning mutual fund or individual stocks in traditional brokerage accounts; customized baskets of stocks are apparently catching on despite opposition from mutual fund industry; chart (Market Place column) (M)

THE MARKETS: Market Place; 2 Fund Giants to Introduce Self-Directed Portfolios for Investors

 U.S. Is Not in a Recession, Greenspan Tells Senators  While warning that the economy still faces substantial risks, Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, said that the United States was not in a recession and that the slowdown it is experiencing could be as short as it is sharp.    Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Greenspan did not directly address whether the central bank is likely to continue with its campaign of aggressive rate cuts, but his analysis of economic conditions suggested that further reductions are likely. [Page A1.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

 Call for Swift Tax Cut  Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill urged Congress to act swiftly and pass two key elements of President Bush's tax cut proposal as a way to help stave off any further downturn in the economy.   PAGE A26

INSIDE

Chancellor Gerhard Schroder faces decision on whether he will support or water down expansion of current laws that give workers direct say in management of companies; Labor Min Walter Riester has drawn up proposed expansion of workers' rights on conviction that law needs to catch up with changes in German industry; Economics Min Werner Muller is convinced that plan will damage German growth and has threatened to resign if it becomes law in its current form; underlying battle is core question of flexibility; photo (M)

Germany Weighs Overhaul of 'Consensus' Capitalism

QXL Ricardo, British Internet auctioneer, reports wider third-quarter loss related to acquisition costs; for three months ended Dec 31, QXL Ricardo lost 41.3 million pounds ($60 million) compared with 38 million pounds ($55.2 million at current exchange rates) year ago (S)

LOSS AT INTERNET AUCTIONEER

Rick Marin article on restaurants and bars where customers recline on beds rather than sit at tables: BED in Miami Beach, Skybar at Mondrian hotel in Los Angeles and Underbar and APT in New York; photos (M)

Don't Pull Up a Chair: Plump Up a Pillow

Bruce Weber reviews Cellini, play written and directed by John Patrick Shanley at Second Stage; photos (M)

When Rage And Pride Illuminate The Genius

Vintage paperback version of Dave Eggers's best-selling memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, includes appendix correcting and updating original, an upside-down back cover creating a book that seems to open from either end, and three different versions, each with its own cover illustration; Eggers wrestles again in new section with potential unseemliness of profiting from his parents' death and his little brother's charm; says in e-mail interview that he has no interest book's sales and has given away just about everything it has earned him so far; photos (M)

Ambivalent Writer Turns His Memoir Upside Down; Denouncing Profits and Publishers While Profiting From Publication

Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani abruptly claims ownership of Harlem office space sought by Bill Clinton for his post-presidential offices, news conference; says building' landlords negotiated with Clinton without notifying New York City, which holds lease; says city is willing to negotiate; photos (M)

Snag in Clinton's Office Plan: Giuliani Stakes Claim to Space

South Korea fails to sell much of stake it offered in Korea Telecom, setting back government's efforts to sell off its 59 percent stake in nation's biggest phone company by next year; local investors buy 3.3 million shares at average price of 66,967 won ($53.20) a share, 4.5 percent below market price and representing 1.1 percent of company; governemnt wanted to sell 14.7 percent (S)

February 14, 2001

Headlines from February 14, 2001

A Marriage of Convenience

Defense Grills Terror Witness On bin Laden

A Special Kind of Officemate

PRUDENTIAL TO CUT JOBS

Dozens of Rich Americans Join In Fight to Retain the Estate Tax

Billboard 200

Hotshot

J.Lo

Save The Last Dance

1

Rule 3:36

Historical Context for February 14, 2001