May 1, 2001

Minnesota Twins defeat New York Yankees, 2-1; photo (M)

Political Memo column contends that Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani's latest strategy in his making mischief in race for his successor seems to be to bolster fortunes of one Democratic candidate, City Council Speaker Peter F Vallone, and to continue to harm another, City Comptroller Alan G Hevesi (M)

Six state-owned Chinese airlines form alliance to compete against three large state-owned airline groups being formed through state-mandated consolidation; China is trying to narrow number of airlines without forcing any into bankruptcy (S)

PepsiCo, trying to duplicate popularity of original Mountain Dew, its citrus-flavored, high-caffeine soda, is introducing new cherry-flavored version named Code Red; many popular soft drinks contain caffeine, but it is no guarantee of success, and some without caffeine, like Sprite, have done well; chart; graph; photo (M)

Ebookers.com says its sales nearly doubled in first quarter, setting off gain of 19 percent in its share price (S)

Michiko Kakutani reviews Roger Angell's A Pitcher's Story: Innings With David Cone; photo (M)

4 Killed in Manila Protests At least four people were killed as security forces fended off supporters of the ousted former president, Joseph Estrada, as they tried to storm the presidential palace. PAGE A14

Eurostat says external current account deficit of 15-member European Union rose to 15 billion euros in fourth quarter of last year from 8.6 billion euros in previous quarter, and from 1.9 billion euros year earlier; balance in trade of services fell to deficit of 3.2 billion euros from surplus of 1.9 billion euros in third quarter of 2000 (S)

Article profiles Doubles, private club in midtown Manhattan that is celebrating its 25th anniversary; scene at club described; photo (M)

Anthony Tommasini reviews Metropolitan Opera Orchestra performing Verdi Requiem under direction of James Levine at Carnegie Hall (M)

China's State Security Ministry begins detaining American citizens born in China and questioning them about their affairs in move diplomats regard as troubling change in government policy; China experts and others say situation marks first time since Korean War that American citizens have been held by State Security apparatus; six American citizens, none prominent critics of China, have been questioned and detained since end of last year; include businessmen, writers and academics; number of Chinese citizens with permanent residency status in US have also been held; detentions highlight new government scrutiny of group that has become prominent in China's business and academic sectors in recent years, namely, Chinese citizens who immigrated to US to study in 1980's and 1990's and are returning in large numbers to work--often armed with liberal ideas and foreign passport or green card; photo of American professor, Li Shaomin, who remains in Chinese custody (M)

Growing number of Web sites that once offered goods, services or content for free new charge users; most sites offering news and information are still free, but few have started imposing fees and more are considering doing same; some examples noted; even Yahoo, big and previously free Web portal, has started imposing fees for many aspects of its service and promises many more (M)