On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2002, the world population was approximately 6,337,730,342 people[†]
2002László Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (born 1927)[†]
László Kubala was a Hungarian professional footballer. He played as a forward for Ferencváros, Slovan Bratislava, Barcelona, and Espanyol, among other clubs. Regarded as one of the greatest players in history, Kubala is considered a hero of Barcelona. A Hungarian national by birth, he also held Czechoslovak and Spanish citizenship, and played for the national teams of all three countries.
2002Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, Turkish poet and composer (born 1940)[†]
Şerif Cırık, popularly known as Aşık Mahsuni Şerif, was a Turkish ashik, folk musician, composer, poet, and author. Aşık is a title used to indicate his position as a respected musician and his relationship with Alevism.
George Vecsey Sports of The Times column argues that soccer World Cup exhibition matches and European club matches are more exciting to more of world than American championship games in basketball and hockey, televised during same time in season; photo (M)
Stock fund managers who hold most of Jefferson Smurfit Group's equity are wary of Madison Dearborn Partners' bid for Jefferson Smurfit because it is widely accepted that Smurfit family wants to sit on both sides of negotiating table, selling its 10 percent stake in group, and then buying into newly private entity as part of consortium with Madison Dearborn; chairman-chief executive Michael W J Smurfit is son of company founder and has two brothers who serve as deputy chairmen; Jefferson Smurfit is one of world's largest makers of paper packaging products; photo (M)
Rev Alfred J Bietighofer, priest from Bridgeport, Conn, who was removed from ministry last month after allegations of sexually abusing minors two decades ago, apparently hangs himself in his room at psychiatric institute in Silver Spring, Md, that serves as main treatment center for priests accused of molestation; photo (M)
Leading Congressional Democrats abandon policy of unstinting support for Pres Bush's handling of war on terror, demanding full disclosure of what he was told last summer about danger of terrorist hijackings; call for broad public inquiry into what government knew before Sept 11; sharp questions about possible intelligence lapses and about vigor of administration's response to terrorist warnings come day after White House announced, eight months after terror attacks, that Bush was alerted by CIA last summer to danger of hijackings by terrorists affiliated with Osama bin Laden; even some Republicans are questioning government's response to information gathered last summer; Sen Richard C Shelby, ranking Republican on Senate intelligence committee, says FBI officials had been 'asleep'; Sen Tom Daschle, majority leader, says Bush should immediately hand Congressional intelligence committees 'entire briefing that he was given' in Aug; Democrats also want to see FBI memo warning that many Middle Eastern men were training at American flight schools; at issue is how much members of Congress knew last Aug about intelligence warnings; Senate Democrats are contesting assertion by Rep Porter J Goss of Florida that information in president's intelligence briefing was given to his House Intelligence Committee as well; Sen Bob Graham says committees were given more general information than president received, and there were no references to hijackings; photo (M)
Article on weekend jaunt to New Castle, Delaware, exquisite 18th-century town along Delaware River with unhurried air and relatively few tourists; photos (M)
House votes to impose stricter work requirements on welfare recipients as part of Republican plan to extend change in social policy brought about by 1996 welfare law; vote, 229 to 197, is largely along party lines; measure closely follows recommendations from Pres Bush; it now goes to Senate, where some of its more restrictive provisions are likely to be modified; Democratic alternative to House bill that would have provided more money for child care and would have restored welfare benefits to legal immigrants is voted down by vote of 222 to 198; Democrats say Republican bill is harsh and mean-spirited, with work requirements that are unrealistic; Republicans have potent comeback: they recall Democrats' dire predictions when welfare bill was passed six years ago; chart with elements of House Republicans' welfare bill (M)
Societe Generale SA posts 24 percent decline in first-quarter profit from year earlier; net income fell to 511 million euros ($466 million) from 677 million euros in 2001 (S)
John Tierney comments on question of why New York City waterfront remains decrepit, in contrast to fine harbors of Baltimore, Md, and Sydney, Australia, which are filled with boats carrying tourists and residents from one attraction to another (M)
Advice on coping with long car trips and delays in getting to vacation destinations; photos (M)
Priest an Apparent Suicide A priest from Connecticut who left the ministry over allegations of sexual misconduct was found dead at a psychiatric hospital. PAGE B1 Ex-Klansman Implicated Bobby Frank Cherry's ex-wife testified that he boasted about putting a bomb in a Birmingham, Ala., church, killing four girls in 1963. PAGE A18
China Mobile will pay $10.2 billion to China's state-owned national phone company to buy cellular phone operations in eight provinces in central and western China; China Mobile will raise part of money for deal by selling $750 million worth of its shares to Vodafone Group, which increases its stake in China Mobile to 3.27 percent from 2.18 percent (S)
Dell's Financial Results Slightly Beat Expectations Despite the depressed state of the personal computer business, Dell Computer reported that its quarterly sales and profits matched the results of a year ago. Its financial results slightly surpassed Wall Street's expectations. The performance was regarded by analysts as further evidence that Dell stands apart from the rest of the industry, gaining market share while rivals fade. [Page C5.] US Airways Seeks Big Concessions Executives at US Airways met with union representatives to discuss a plan to cut costs by $1.3 billion with the goal of obtaining a $1 billion federal loan guarantee. Of that, $950 million would come from nonmanagement labor costs and $50 million from management. [C2.]