September 26, 2002

Sibur executives Yakov Goldovsky and Yevgeny Kovshits are declared guilty of abuse of office and sentenced to seven months in prison by Moscow court; court immediately releases them because they already served time during trial (S)

Caryn James Critic's Notebook column on darkening depiction of police work; reviews CBS programs Robbery Homicide Division, with Tom Sizemore, Without a Trace, with Anthony LaPaglia, and NBC's Boomtown, with Donnie Wahlberg and Neal McDonough; photos (M)

Sergei P Kukura, first vice president of Russia's Lukoil who was kidnapped on his way to his office in Moscow, reappears after 12 days in captivity; company spokesman refuses to give any further details, other than to say that $6 million ransom demanded by kidnappers after abduction was not paid; Russian oil trading company Runicom, pursued in Russian courts by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, disappears; bank has been pursuing Runicom in court for three years over $17.5 million, part of loan that bank says firm has not repaid; judge in case receives postcard in mail saying company is not at address in Lausanne, Switzerland, that it had given on court papers in February; international operator in Switzerland says there is no telephone listing for Runicom in any city; bank representative says it will try to pursue Runicom in Swiss courts (M)

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein chief executive Leonhard Fischer resigns; Dresdner Bank chief executive Bernd Fahrholz will take over Fischer's responsibilities (S)

Larry Silverstein's $7-billion claim that World Trade Center suffered two separate terrorist attacks suffers blow as Federal Judge John S Martin rules that 3 of 20 insurers owe leaseholder insurance payments for only single attack; Silverstein, who says extra money is needed for rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, settled earlier with two other insurers; trial will determine other cases (S)

Young Israeli-Arab who saved untold number of Israelis by alerting police to potential suicide bomber is hailed as hero, but not embraced by Israelis or fellow Israeli-Arabs; Rami Mahamid, 17, actually borrowed suspected bomber's cell phone to call police as two waited at bus stop in Israeli Arab town of Umm el-Fahm; when police arrived and demanded to examine suspect's bag it exploded, killing policeman and bomber and badly wounding Rami Mahamid; he was taken to hospital, where he was kept shackled for two days and questioned as possible accomplice before his role became clear to Israeli investigators; Israeli police have since given him certificate celebrating his 'good citizenship,' but his father is not certain fellow Israeli Arabs would approve of his intervention; many identify themselves as Palestinians; they relish their freedom and opportunity as Israelis, but resent frequent treatment as second-class citizens in state that defines itself as Jewish; increasingly, their fellow ciitizens suspect them of ties to terrorism; photo (M)

Rob Fixmer State of the Art column comments on Microsoft's new Media Player 9; used with cable-modem connection, player improves media streaming capabilities; photos; drawing (M)

Pres Bush will send senior American diplomat to North Korea early next month, ending 20 months of internal debate on whether to open talks with country Bush has lumped with Iran and Iraq as part of 'axis of evil'; White House announcement comes days after Japanese Prime Min Junichiro Koizumi's visit to North Korea; it is significant change of strategy for administration, which had ended similar talks begun in Clinton adminstration; official traveling to North Korea will be James A Kelly, assistant secretary of state; he is expected to hold wide-ranging discussion with North Korea on its missile production and exports, its huge array of conventional weapons within reach of South Korea and its history of repression; timing of White House announcement is significant because it contrasts US's stance on North Korea with its approach to Iraq; like Iraq, North Korea has extensive nuclear program, chemical weapons, links to terrorism and history of shell games with nuclear inspectors; administration officials say they think diplomacy can work with Kim Jong Il but not with Saddam Hussein (M)

Federal investigators examining possible accounting fraud at Homestore.com and AOL Time Warner are turning their attention to Peter Tafeen, Homestore executive who worked closely with counterparts at AOL to devise complicated deals between companies; Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission say former Homestore executives John Giesecke, Joseph Shew and John Desimone agree to plead guilty to charges related to securities fraud and cooperate with investigations; Attorney General John Ashcroft makes announcement at news conference in Washington to demonstrate Justice Department's commitment to prosecuting corporate crime; people involved in Homestore inquiry say investigators hope to use testimony of Homestore executives to put pressure on Tafeen; investigators hope that Tafeen will provide information about complicity of AOL executives in questionable deals (M)

Shares in Dassault Systemes fall 18 percent after company warns for third time this year that its sales forecast for 2002 will be lower than expected; graph (S)

World Business Briefing: France: Al

Shabby chic of domesticating old industrial space has trickled upward to new housing; what used to be called 'raw space' is commanding price in excess of $3.5 million in Manhattan; if it has bare concrete floors and ceilings 11 feet or higher, it can be called loft and sold at premium prices; some examples noted; photo (M)