April 12, 2001

New York Philharmonic series of concerts in parks will open July 10 in Central Park; David Wiener's play Blood Orange opens; play is first of five new plays developed this season under Cherry Lane Alternative's mentoring program; David Henry Hwang is playwright's mentor; David Nasaw's book The Chief, Michael A Bellesile's Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture and Susan Lee Johnson's Roaring Camp: The Social World of the California Gold Rush win Bancroft Prizes; Museum of Modern Art to open retrospective on avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage; photos (M)

US and European Union reach agreement that ends costly trade war over European banana imports; agreement gives Chiquita Brands International and Dole Food Co chance to regain market share and to recover from financial setbacks that companies attributed to unfairness in European import system; accord represents victory for Bush administration in its dealings with Europe; Europeans agree to transition period of modified quotas and tariffs lasting until 2006, when all quotas are to be lifted; US, which originally demanded immediate end to all quotas, agrees as of July 1 to lift punitive tariffs it had placed on certain European goods in retaliation for import restrictions that hurt American banana producers; new regulations will lead to rearrangement of European market; Caribbean and African producers will lose some of their favored status, and special access that newer European distributors had enjoyed will be withdrawn; Fyffes PLC, largest banana distributor in European Union, expects to expand; photo (M)

Interview with Pierre Rosenberg, set to retire as Louvre director, who presses for French national lottery to fund art acquisitions to keep nation's artistic heritage from being sold abroad; photos (M)

Shares of Britain's Great Universal Stores surge 12 percent on report of strong sales for six months to March 31 (S)

Israelis Raid Gaza Camp Two Palestinians were killed when Israeli tanks moved into a Gaza refugee camp to destroy a suspected site for mortar attacks. PAGE A6 Church-State Debate Grows Several labor unions opposed more government support for religious social service programs as a conservative coalition endorsed it. PAGE A26