Psion PLC cancels plans to build smartphone combination of personal organizer and wireless telephone and says it will cut 100 jobs in $16 million reorganization to offset losses and probable fall in computer sales this year; graph (S)

PSION CANCELS SMARTPHONE PLAN

Anne Midgette article on Opera Orchestra of New York and conductor Eve Queler and upcoming concert performances at Carnegie Hall; singers in performance of Donizetti's La Favorita include Jennifer Larmore and Dmitri Hvorostovsky; photos (M)

An Opera Gig Of Her Own

Mike Tyson holds news conference in Las Vegas, Nev, to discuss his heavyweight boxing career; says he hopes to fight winner of Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz bout and possibly get shot at world championship currently held by Lennox Lewis; photo (M)

Tyson, Awaiting a Title Shot, Wonders About His Legacy

Governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey sign memorandum of understanding that will allow Kazakhstan's growing oil industry to participate in 1,040-mile pipeline to be built from Baku, Azerbaijan, Ceyhan on Mediterranean coast of Turkey over next three years; analysts say agreement makes more viable proposed one-million-barrel-a-day pipeline, favored by US over other proposed routes through Russia or Iran; A Elizabeth Jones, senior US State Department officer, signs agreement as witness (S)

OIL PIPELINE PROGRESSES

New York Knickerbockers defeat Boston Celtics, 95-88; photo (M)

Celtics No Match For Camby At His Best

New York City Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani forges ahead with his idea of forming decency panel to review exhibits for publicly financed museums; may ask Cardinal Edward M Egan to partcipate; Giuliani can establish any kind of mayoral advisory commission but question remains about whether it would have any real power (M)

Mayor Says His Panel On Decency Is for Real

After initial waves of relief, Washington State began to come to grips with the damage unleashed by the earthquake. Page A21.

Assessing Quake's Damage

Manufacturing has borne brunt of economic slowdown that began in fall, and most companies are bracing for worse to come; while production has fallen slightly since early summer, overall stagnation obscures widely different patterns in various industries; most of America's industrial leaders are eliminating overtime, putting freeze on hiring, scaling back new investment and shrinking number of jobs at their companies; actions could result in full-blown recession; strategies in specific industries and at specific companies, including Kohler Co, Motorola, Fluor Corp and Goodman Equipment Corp discussed; graph; photos (M)

The Mind-Set of a Slowdown; Thriving or Hurting, U.S. Manufacturers Brace for the Worst

John Tierney The Big City column discusses study by Bruce Schaller, independent consultant, which proclaims that celebrities' tape recorded exhortations to taxi passengers to use seat belts are useless; Schaller says hard plastic security partitions contribute to severity of injuries in accidents; suggests partitions could be eliminated with advent of security cameras, or law could be passed requiring passengers to wear seat belts (M)

The Big City; Lots of Talk, But Is Anyone Buckling Up?

Royal Bank of Scotland reports profit of 500 million pounds ($723 million) for 2000, 11 percent increase from previous year; profit before tax, good will, amortization and integration expenses rose 31 percent, to 4.4 billion pounds, compared with 3.4 billion pounds last year (S)

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND POSTS RESULTS

Infielder Chuck Knoblauch makes throwing error in New York Yankees first exhibition game of spring training; photo (M)

For Knoblauch, One Hit and One Error

Census Bureau urges Commerce Sec Donald L Evans not to adjust 2000 population tally to make up for millions of uncounted people; recommendation effectively ends legal and political battle that strategists of both parties believe has consequences for control of House in 2002 elections; Evans had already been expected to provide states, for purposes of drawing Congressional districts, only those population figures derived from basic census count, but recommendation will make it easier for him to do so; Census Bureau acting director William G Barron Jr, in conveying recommendation, says experts were simply unable, in time allowed them, to determine whether adjusted figures would be more accurate than unadjusted count; many political strategists say reliance on unadjusted figures favors Republicans in drawing of districts since adjustment through statistical sampling would add to customarily Democratic neighborhoods most of those who have been unaccounted fo; chart compares people missed in 1990 and 2000 census (M)

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU REJECTS REVISION TO NATION'S TALLY

Prudence Bushnell, former United States ambassador to Kenya, testifies at embassy bombings trial; describes in detail her escape from office tower behind embassy in Nairobi when bomb went off on Aug 7, 1998, and ensuing chaos; four defendants, accused of joining with Osama bin Laden in terrorist plot that led to blast, remain impassive throughout her 45-minute testimony; photo (M)

AMBASSADOR TELLS OF BOMB'S HORROR

 Bankruptcy Bill Gains  The House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would overhaul the nation's bankruptcy system and make it much harder for people to wipe out their debts.   PAGE A20    Rap Star Takes the Stand  Lawyers for Sean Combs rested his defense after Mr. Combs testified that he did not have a gun at a  nightclub and did not try to bribe a witness.   PAGE B1

INSIDE

Special report on Afghanistan, where thousands of villagers are fleeing famine, many of them dying on journey to bigger towns and cities or borders of neighboring Iran and Pakistan; United Nations officials plea for emergency aid, saying more than million of people are at risk of starvation in country afflicted with unending war, no effectual government and three years of drought; photos of refugee camps; map (M)

DESPERATE MIGRATION -- A special report.; Fleeing Famine and War, Afghans Again Meet Death

India's central bank cuts it key interest rate half-point, to 7 percent, its second rate cut in less than two weeks, one day after government lowers some public saving rates by up to 1.5 percentage points, to 9.5 percent; Finance Min Yashwant Sinha says government wants to increase economic growth to 6.5 percent in year beginning April 1, from estimated 6 percent (S)

INDIA CUTS INTEREST RATE

European Central Bank leaves its key refinancing rate at 4.75 percent (S)

WORLD BUSINESS BRIEFING: EUROPE; RATES STEADY IN EUROPE

Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Apache Corp raise their joint bid for Fletcher Energy to $1.67 billion, 4.4 percent increase, to thwart competing bid by Guinness Peat Group (S)

SHELL RAISES FLETCHER BID

Sean Combs testifies at his trial, denying charges of weapons possession and bribery; cross-examination by Matthew Bogdanos, assistant district attorney, sizzles with accusations that Combs rehearsed testimony, destroyed evidence and has history of weapon use; case is concluded without testimony from Jennifer Lopez and it is doubtful whether she will now be called as witness; photo (M)

Combs Gives Little Ground on the Stand, and Defense Rests

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225-stock index drops 1.57 percent, to 12,681.66, its lowest level in 15 years as investors ignore Bank of Japan's interest rate cut; decline in share prices in recent days is blow to bank's governor Masaru Hayami, who declared in August that Japanese economy was healthy enough to withstand higher interest rates; analysts say bank's reversal of course on interest rates is insufficient to counteract dismal figures on industrial production in January; graph (M)

Stocks in Japan at 15-Year Low

Caryn James reviews start of third season of David Chase's HBO series The Sopranos, starring James Gandolfini and Edie Falco; photos (M)

'Sopranos': Blood, Bullets And Proust

Although President Bush's budget plan and proposed tax cut are certain to foster vigorous debate over the coming weeks, his two-day, five-state tour to promote them steered  clear of tough questions.  

Bush Leads Cheers And Avoids Criticism

Strife in Middle East spills onto Internet, where supporters of Israelis and Palestinians are battling over outcome of photo contest that includes picture of Palestinian boy huddling by his father moments before boy was killed; for first weeks of Year in Pictures 2000 contest, in which visitors to MSNBC Web site vote for their favorite picture, photo of boy was clear leader; but after widespread e-mail campaign by supporters of Israel urging vote for any other photo, MSNBC was besieged by votes for variety of animal pictures and photo of boy dropped to sixth place; some supporters of Palestinians say victory for widely-distributed photo could help bring sympathy to their cause, while some backers of Israel want to make sure it does not attract even more attention; boy in photo is Muhammad al-Durrah, who was shot to death last September in battle between Israeli and Palestinian security forces in Gaza Strip; picture was taken from video frame by France 2 television; photos (M)

Mideast Strife Spills Over Into Photo Contest

In ''The Widow of St. Pierre,'' a stirring new film by the French director Patrice Leconte, Juliette Binoche, below, plays the enigmatic wife of the captain of a garrison on a windswept island off Canada. The arrival of a condemned man sparks a complex mix of emotions.

An Island Trio

Heineken NV chief executive Karel Vuursteen reiterates interest in bidding for Bass Brewers unit that British regulators have ordered Interbrew NV to sell; Heineken reports its net income for 2000 rose greater-than-expected 20 percent, to 612 million euros ($565 million), compared with 516 million euros last year; revenue grew 13 percent, to 8.1 million euros, compared with 7.1 million euros year before; photo (S)

March 2, 2001

Headlines from March 2, 2001

PSION CANCELS SMARTPHONE PLAN

An Opera Gig Of Her Own

Tyson, Awaiting a Title Shot, Wonders About His Legacy

OIL PIPELINE PROGRESSES

Celtics No Match For Camby At His Best

Billboard 200

Hotshot

1

Save The Last Dance

No Angel

J.Lo

Historical Context for March 2, 2001