February 12, 2002

Pricewaterh ouseCoopers is ordered by market regulator Consob to suspend one of its auditors, Luca Redaelli, after Banca Popolare di Novara failed to report $50 million loss; Redaellis is barred from working as auditor for two years; ban is related to loss that Popolare Novara found in its 1999 first-half earnings (S)

Problem arises in Walter Timpone's candidacy to be assistant to New Jersey's new US Atty Christopher J Christie, because of his meeting last year with Sen Robert Torricelli while representing man whom prosecutors sought to recruit as informer; Torricelli and Sen Jon Corzine accepted Christie, who lacks criminal investigation experience, on condition of input on deputy, but FBI background check turned up Torricelli contact when Timpone represented Robert Janiszewski (M)

Severe mid-January winter storm in mountains of central Mexico devastated two of country's largest monarch butterfly colonies; record 74 percent to 80 percent, or between 220 million and 270 million, butterflies died; researchers say loss is not expected to threaten species; photo; maps (M)

Federal investigation of accounting practices of Global Crossing, troubled communications company, expands into inquiry on type of financial transaction also used by Enron and many other companies; broader probe signaled by SEC subpoena of Qwest Communications, Global's main competitor in 14 Western states, ordering hand-over of documents from transactions with Global involving right to use each other's fiber optic networks to fill gaps in their own coverage; agency seeks to determine whether such long-term contracts, widely bought and sold during Internet boom, were in some cases sham deals to inflate reported revenue (M)

Federal Judge Jack B Weinstein provokes fierce debate among immigration experts with ruling that US officials cannot deport felon without considering impact on child immigrant would leave behind; ruling cites international law on considering best interests of child; rights lawyers see broad aplication, critics charge judicial activism; New York case involves convicted robber from Trinidad whose seven-year-old daughter, Ashley Beharry, would remain in US with grandmother; both are US citizens; photo (M)

Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia win pairs gold medal at Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, continuing Russian domination of sport at winter games; controversial 5-4 decision causes uproar; flawless performance by Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier who take silver medal, is overlooked for less-than-perfect performance by Russians, in which Sikharulidze stumbled out of double axel; official says politics may have swayed French judge to side with Russia; another official calls decision embarrassment; victory represents 11th consecutive pairs gold medal for Russia; Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China take bronze medal; photos (M)

Michael Kinsley, pioneering figure in Web publishing, steps down as editor of Slate, online magazine he conceived; Kinsley, who announced in December that he has had Parkinson's disease for last eight years, says decision was not driven by his health, but was influenced by it; deputy editor Jack Shafer will serve as interim editor for six weeks to be followed by Jacob Weisberg for another six weeks; at end of that time, editor will be selected; photo (M)

Nicholas W Leeson, former rogue trader who incurred more than $1 billion in losses at Barings, bringing about 1995 collapse of what had been Britain's oldest merchant bank, has become talking head, expounding in media on case of John Rusnak, who is accused of erasing $750 million of Allied Irish Bank's money through concealed, authorized currency trading; photo (M)

Jon Pareles reviews concert by Mary J Blige at Radio City Music Hall; photo (M)

Article on debate over Florida's endangered manatees and what can and should be done to protect them; records show that 53 of state's several thousand manatees died in January, 18 from collisions with powerboats; last year 325 died, 81 killed by boats; state has put moratorium on new marina construction but environmental groups say restrictions do not go far enough; debate has widened to encompas balancing wildlife needs and rights of boaters and shorefront property owners; photos; map; graphs (L)

J P Morgan Chase finds itself on defensive after string of losses and bad publicity; company has large loans to Enron, Kmart and Global Crossing, all now in bankruptcy, and additional exposure in Argentina; its large portfolio of venture capital investments continues to fall in value, though some of those losses are hedged; J P Morgan's executives have been reassuring employees in recent weeks and telling investors that much of market's anxieties about company are overblown; chief executive William B Harrison told employees on Feb 4 that company is addressing its problems; several Wall Street analysts believe bank's shares, down 12.4 percent this year, are relatively cheap; they say stock will not rally until investment banking activity picks up; graph; photo (Market Place column) (M)

Toymakers, struggling to deliver items that appeal to rapidly maturing 8-year-old girls, think they have found their saviors in marquee names of pop music; pop-music toys have been gaining popularity last several years, lifting both toy and recording industries; about $300 million in pop-music-themed toys were bought last year, up from virtually no sales five years ago; representatives of some toy manufacturers attending American International Toy Fair in Manhattan comment; photo (M)