April 25, 2002

Teachers' Duties at Issue With talks between the Bloomberg administration and the teachers' union in the final round, the main issue is no longer money but teachers' duties. NEWS ANALYSIS, PAGE B1 Andersen Makes New Offer To avoid a trial, lawyers for Arthur Andersen submitted a proposed settlement of its criminal case to the government. PAGE C1

Crown Prince Abdullah is expected to tell Pres Bush that strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and US will be threatened if Bush does not moderate his support for Israel's military policies; two will meet on Apr 25; Saudi family has reportedly discussed using 'oil weapon' against US, or demanding that US leave strategic military bases in region; there is also warning of general drift by Arab leaders toward radical politics that have been building in Arab street; Saudi message contains undeniable brinkmanship intended to put pressure on Bush to take much larger political gamble by imposing peace settlement on Israelis and Palestinians; Abdullah is thought to represent not just Saudi Arabia but also broader voice of Arab world; his delegation's strong sense of alarm and crisis are being heard in other Arab capitals; Abdullah believes Bush has lost credibility by failing to follow through on his demand two weeks ago that Prime Min Ariel Sharon withdraw Israeli troops from West Bank and end sieges of Yasir Arafat's compound in Ramallah and of Church of Nativity in Bethlehem (M)

Jean C Monty resigns as chairman and chief executive of BCE, Canada's dominant telecommunications company, after telling investors at conference in Toronto that company is backing away from its beleaguered Teleglobe unit; Monty's departure will separate chairman and chief executive roles; Michael J Sabia will be new chief executive; Richard J Currie will be new, nonexecutive chairman; BCE's stock, which has lost about third of its value since early March, rebounds, closing up 20.1 percent at $17.54 on New York Stock Exchange; photo (M)

Bernard Holland reviews Collegiate Chorale's concert version of Weber opera Oberon, featuring Orchestra of St Luke's and singer Lauren Flanigan, conducted by Robert Bass; photo (M)

J-Phone Co, Japan's second-largest, announces it is pushing back introduction of its third-generation phones by six months, to December, latest snag in industry's rollout of high-speed service; J-Phone planned to start its so-called 3G service last December but then delayed introduction until June; handsets will not be ready, so company will conduct six months of customer trials in Tokyo before full commercial introduction at end of year (M)

Palestinians say failed effort to attack Israeli settlement near Gaza City is second in one week by three boys 15 or younger, marking pitiless new dynamic in 18 months of retaliation and retribution between Israelis and Palestinians; boys, armed with homemade bombs and knives, were shot dead by Israeli soldiers; age of three boys and their backgrounds--all said to be excellent students from middle-class families--shock even Palestinians who have witnessed rising levels of violence in current conflict and have seen it draw in younger and younger victims and participants; some speculate that adults may be secretly recruiting boys to carry out attacks, or that teenagers may be mounting raids themselves after being reared in impoverished and isolated world where suicide attackers are praised as 'martyrs'; photos (M)

New York Yankees defeat Oakland Athletics, 8-5; photo (M)

American cardinals, in Rome for meetings with Pope John Paul II and top Vatican officials, issue set of proposals intended to help remove priests who sexually abuse minors, but recommendations are far short of zero-tolerance policy promised by some cardinals just hours earlier; church leaders appear divided over how to proceed, and news conference is delayed over two hours as cardinals continue to debate how to present conclusions reached at meetings; in addition to set of proposals for removing priests, cardinals also draft letter to be sent to priests in US, expressing sympathy and support 'through these troubled times'; document released by cardinals outlines plan to crack down on screening and training in seminaries; even after all the discussion of depth of crisis, document itself seems to go back and forth on scope of problem; photos (M)

Sir Roger Hurn will resign as chairman of Prudential, British insurance company, so company will not be hurt by his links to Marconi; Hurn resigned as chairman of Marconi in September, two months after company reversed its revenue forecasts, move that sent its stock price into free fall; graph (S)

Work of Australian architect Glenn Murcutt, surprise winner of prestigious Pritzker Prize, described; he works alone, designing modest environmentally conscious homes; has refused to work outside Australia; photos (M)

At Home With interview with Anita Shreve, author of new book Sea Glass; she comments on house that plays major role in book and two of her other novels; photos (M)

US House, 334-90, approves Republican-backed legislation in effort to address accounting and financial disclosure deceptions at Enron, but consumer groups and Democratic leaders attack it as toothless measure that will not prevent future corporate collapses; bill will create new board under authority of Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate auditors of publicly traded companies and punish errant accountants; it will also prohibit accounting firms from serving as external auditor while doing certain types of consulting and other work for same company; it will also require disclosure of sort of off-the-balance-sheet deals that contributed to Enron's collapse; Democrats and other critics say bill lacks crucial provisions to protect investors, like stricter prohibition of accountants' doing consulting work for audit clients and language giving new accounting regulatory board more statutory authority to investigate firms; bill's sponsor is Rep Michael G Oxley, chairman of House Financial Services Committee; Pres Bush praises passage of bill (M)