Brazilian government, which has challenged giant drug companies' patent defenses perhaps more aggressively than any other country, hails World Trade Orgn's declaration on drug patents as important victory for developing world's fight against health scourges like AIDS; decision also promises to open way for Brazil to realize long-held ambition: to export its low-cost versions of AIDS drugs to countries without resources to produce their own (S)

Brazil Welcomes Global Move on Drug Patents

Mary Jo White will step down as United States attorney for Southern District of New York by end of year; move comes after Bush administration consolidated prosecution of terrorism cases in Washington, over White's objection; photo (M)

U.S. Attorney To Step Down In Manhattan

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column discusses New York Knickerbockers, who, as season gets underway, appear lackluster; they prepare for game against New Jersey Nets; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Knicks Face One Rivalry At a Time

John Tierney The Big City column describes full life of John W Perry, New York City police officer who died helping people escape from World Trade Center on Sept 11 (M)

The Big City; A Policeman For Starters, And at the End

Overview of events in war on terrorism (M)

A Need for Order, the Smallpox Matter and Oil Prices

France's Societe Generale posts 20 percent decline in third-quarter profit from year earlier, well below 14 percent predicted by analysts (S)û

World Business Briefing | Europe: France: Bank's Earnings Fall

Western nations rush to assemble international force to keep order in Afghan areas wrested from Taliban; 160 British marines and American Special Operations troops fly to airfield north of Kabul and begin preparing it for shipments of food; American forces seek to make contact with Northern Alliance officers who forward credible claims of capturing some Taliban commanders and at least one high-ranking Al Qaeda leader; prisoners could provide valuable intelligence about location of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar, chief of Taliban; country appears deeply fractured, with rival warlords filling power vacuum left by departing Taliban and with Mullah Omar vowing to fight on and 'destroy America'; America's allies signal willingness to fill power vacuum; France, Canada, Turkey and Jordan offer to send troops to maintain security in Afghanistan; Bangladesh and Malaysia said to be preparing to contribute as well; sense of urgency stems from fact that Taliban's resistance in northern Afghanistan has collapsed more quickly than expected, raising fears that unstable situation might interfere with delivery of badly needed aid shipments; photo (L)

Allies Building Force to Keep Order in a Vacuum

Article describes Bronx mosque, Jamhiyatut Tahaawun Islamic Center, which provides space for worship, as well as school; membership is largely West African, which comprises fastest-growing Muslim populations in New York City; photo (M)

Safekeeping Faith and Tradition; Bronx Mosque Provides a Place for Prayer, and More

China's Citic Securities Co plans to raise 5 billion yuan, about $604 million, in initial public offering to domestic investors; company says it will use proceeds to acquire rival brokers (S)

World Business Briefing | Asia: China: Broker To Raise Funds

New York Knickerbockers defeat Miami Heat, 83-74; photo (M)

Knicks' Surge Adds Drama to Triumph

 Oil Prices Drop Sharply As Russia Rebuffs OPEC  Oil prices plunged as Russia, the biggest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, rejected OPEC's challenge to stabilize prices by sharply cutting production. Prices in New York dropped 11.6 percent. They have fallen 21 percent this week.    The decision on Wednesday by OPEC to delay a production cut unless other major exporters did the same amounted to the declaration of a price war, analysts said. [Page A1.]    Profit at Dell Beat Expectations  Rebounding from a loss in the July quarter, Dell Computer reported a third-quarter profit of $429 million. Its earnings fell by one-third from results in the period a year earlier but edged past Wall Street's estimates. Michael S. Dell, the chief executive, said Pentium 4 chips from Intel, the Windows XP operating system from Microsoft and new wireless networking products from several vendors are leading the industry to its next upgrade cycle beginning next spring or summer. [C3.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

New York City loses staggering 79,000 jobs in October, signal that economic fallout from Sept 11 terrorist attacks may be even worse than forecast; number of jobs usually rises in October; fraction of lost jobs are Wall Street positions that moved to New Jersey; most of decline comes from businesses laying off workers or simply closing for good; enormous job losses are announced as other new reports outline economic damage city has suffered since terrorists destroyed trade center; unemployment rate in city falls slightly, from 6.3 percent to 6.2 percent when adjusted for seasonal factors; this probably reflects fact tha many people who lost jobs are too discouraged or too traumatized to look for new ones; graph (M)

Loss of 79,000 Jobs Adds to City's Economic Woes

Dodge, after 12-year hiatus, is returning to police market with its 2002 Dodge Intrepid police car; photos (S)

Bad Boys, Flee Not: There's a New Cop Car in Town

Federal Judge David Sam dismisses criminal charges against Thomas K Welch and David Johnson, chief organizers of Salt Lake City's bid to win 2002 Olympic Games; Justice Dept spokesperson says it is reviewing decision but has made no decision about whether to appeal (M)

Bidding Charges Dismissed Against 2 in Salt Lake City

Indonesia's economy grows faster than expected in third quarter, despite sliding currency, rising inflation and mess of government's finances; economic growth in Indonesia demonstrates what World Bank calls country's ability to muddle through global economic slowdown and its own political confusion; Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics reports that economy grew 3.5 percent in third quarter, compared with third quarter of 2000; graph (M)

Despite Woes, Indonesia Economy Grew in 3rd Quarter

House and Senate negotiators reach agreement on major aviation security bill that requires federal government to hire 28,000 employees to screen travelers and baggage at nation's airports within one year; White House officials welcome accord, even though agreement calls for federal government to have much larger role than Pres Bush or House Republicans initially wanted; Senate prevails in its insistence that screeners should be federal employees, at least for three years; opinion polls show public favors federal takeover of airport security, and Democrats seize on subject as possible campaign issue; House Republicans get some degree of flexibility for local airport authorities; agreement calls for all checked bags to be screened for bombs and explosives and for cockpit doors to be fortified and locked while aircraft are in flight; passengers will pay $2.50 fee for each leg of flight; chart with bill's highlights; photo (M)

CONGRESS AGREES TO U.S. TAKEOVER FOR AIR SECURITY

Bush administration decides that world's remaining stocks of smallpox should be retained until scientists develop new vaccines and treatments for disease, process that could take years; decision is likely to provoke criticism from international health officials who favor destruction of microbe; Clinton administration privately assured other nations that it would support move to kill off smallpox in 2002; Bush administration's new policy sets no such deadline; this reflects new assessment of dangers posed by bioterrorism; there is currently no treatment for smallpox; United States stopped routine vaccination in 1972; how long vaccines continue to protect against disease is not known; Americans under 30 are completely vulnerable to the disease (M)

U.S. SET TO RETAIN SMALLPOX STOCKS

Philip Morris, the owner of one of the world's best-known corporate names, plans to change that name next year to the Altria Group, company executives said yesterday.    The new name, which is subject to approval by shareholders at the company's annual meeting next April, is drawn from the Latin word ''altus,'' meaning ''high,'' and is supposed to suggest high performance, said Steven C. Parrish, the company's senior vice president for corporate affairs, in an interview at the company's headquarters in New York.  

Philip Morris To Change Name to Altria

Invensys says recent cost cuts helped company accumulate cash in first six months of fiscal year; company had 68 million pounds ($98 million) in cash as of Sept 30, in contrast to shortfall of 194 million pounds year earlier; company lost 66 million pounds in period compared with profit of 40 million pounds year earlier; graph (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Cost Cuts Help Invensys

New York City seeks to reduce dangers faced by New York taxi and livery cab drivers; for taxi and livery drivers, chance of being murdered is 60 times higher than for other workers; NYC begins program to intall emergency notification systems in taxi and livery cabs; system uses combination of Global Positioning Satellite technology and cell-phone links to transmit distress call when driver activates silent alarm concealed in vehicle (S)

A Mayday System for New York Taxi and Livery Cabs

Investigators say American Airlines Flight 587 that crashed in Belle Harbor, Queens, shortly after takeoff shook violently over second of two wakes left by another plane that had departed Kennedy Airport just ahead of it; account is based on preliminary information from flight data recorder; still searching for what caused crew to lose control and plane to break apart; photo (M)

Data Shows Jet Shook After Hitting Wake of 747

 FEAR OVER INTERVIEWS -- Polite and informal though they may be, F.B.I. interviews with young Middle Eastern men have sent a wave of worry through immigrants from the region in Southern California.   PAGE B1    BATTLE FOR CONTROL -- Power vacuums in areas around Kabul are being filled by local warlords and political leaders, a situation that resembles the lawlessness that led to the Taliban's rise.   PAGE B1

A NATION CHALLENGED

Caryn James Critic's Notebook review of three television documentaries about Afghanistan: Saira Shah's Beneath the Veil and sequel Unholy War, on CNN, and National Geographic Explorer: Holy War, Inc, on MSNBC; photos (M)

Days of War And Wonder

Australia's Telstra Corp finalizes plans to expand in New Zealand through purchase of Clear Communications from British Telecommunications; after buying Clear for 143 million New Zealand dollars ($60 million), Telstra will take control of its joint venture TelstraSaturn, which will be merged with Clear to become second-largest carrier in country (S)

World Business Briefing | Australia: Australia: Telecom Expansion

World has responded with lavish generosity to New York City Fire Dept since Sept 11, when 343 of its members died at World Trade Center; gestures are heartfelt and welcome, but inundation of gifts presents profoundly shaken department with problem of distributing them equitably; Howard Sherman, computer whiz, has voluntarily devised, on three spreadsheets, method for distributing gifts, which include free trips and tickets to concerts and sporting events; photos (M)

Dividing Gifts to Firefighters, By Grief and by Spreadsheet

Thomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. Within months of moving to New York in 1956, he had recorded with Miles Davis and on Sonny Rollins' album Saxophone Colossus. Recordings under various leaders, including Giant Steps of John Coltrane, continued well into 1962, when he became vocalist Ella Fitzgerald's full-time accompanist. He worked with Fitzgerald for three years until 1965, and then in 1968 returned to be her pianist and musical director, this time for a decade.

November 16, 2001

Headlines from November 16, 2001

Brazil Welcomes Global Move on Drug Patents

U.S. Attorney To Step Down In Manhattan

Sports of The Times; Knicks Face One Rivalry At a Time

The Big City; A Policeman For Starters, And at the End

A Need for Order, the Smallpox Matter and Oil Prices

Billboard 200

Invincible

Escape

The Great Depression

The Hits -- Chapter One

A Day Without Rain

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for November 16, 2001