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)