November 4, 2002

Former Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu conditionally agrees to become Israel's foreign minister; says he will accept offer by Prime Min Ariel Sharon if government promises to call new elections soon and if he reaches understanding on three major issues; cites exile for Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, which he favors, establishment of Palestinian state, which he opposes, and location of new fence along boundary of West Bank; he would replace Shimon Peres, architect of Oslo accords and supporter of two-state solution to conflict with Palestinians; offer by Sharon is latest move to recruit allies and box in rivals to shore up his minority coalition government now that Labor Party has dropped out; collapse of 19-month-old unity government in budget dispute and political implications of overture to rival Netanyahu discussed; photo (M),

Turkish voters elect former Islamicist Recep Tayyip Erdogan to head new government, expelling ruling coalition led by Prime Min Bulent Ecevit; his Justice and Development Party wins 34.2 percent of vote, compared with 19.4 for closest rival; he quickly seeks to calm fears by emphasizing his support for moderate, secular Turkey, committed to joining European Union and continuing strong relations with US; map (M)

New York's selection as America's entry in global competition to hold 2012 Summer Olympics wins proud and enthusiastic toasts from city and state officials, from some of town's movers and shakers and from random sampling of ordinary people; photos (M)

Rapidly rising home prices have overwhelmed recent decline in interest rates making purchase of first home more difficult than in years for large numbers of young adults in many large metropolitan areas; many prospective homeowners find themsleves living odd inversion of American dream, earning considerably more money than parents did, but still struggling to own home; those who did not join ranks of homeowners in last decade face greatly diminished financial prospects, having missed out on home-price boom that adds tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars to other families' wealth; situation is made worse by fact that many renters invested in stock market in recent years to build up savings for down payment, only to lose money or earn meager return on investments, while homes they wished to buy have soared in value; house-price boom is creating significant new social divisions in metropolitan areas affected, separating younger families from older ones and making some towns less diverse; graphs depicting soaring home prices, 1990-2002, in 14 major metropolitan areas (M)

Some online marketers are beginning to promote their wares on file-trading services like KaZaA, which are typically used to obtain unauthorized copies of music, movies or software; marketers, ranging from independent bands to Microsoft Corp, hope to turn these 'hackers, thieves and pirates' into into customers; ertertainment industry officials say marketers are only giving support to services that encourage theft of other people's intellectual property; organizations promoting file-traders see this kind of marketing as way to lure people away from piracy by providing them with authorized material to download--and, in some cases, asking them to pay for it; photo (M)

Confusing Signals on Fate Of the S.E.C. Chairman Administration officials said that President Bush would dismiss Harvey L. Pitt as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission if the investigations into his selection of a new accounting oversight board show he failed to act properly. But advisers to Mr. Bush continued to send out conflicting signals about Mr. Pitt's future, publicly supporting him while privately complaining about his political missteps. The situation was especially delicate with Congressional elections on Tuesday. [Section A.]

Republicans are poised to buck history and make slim gains in House on November 5; race-by-race examinations of competitive districts indicate party is more likely to increase total of 223 seats, out of 435, than to suffer net loss or lose majority; relentless campaigning by Pres Bush on behalf of Republican candidates in states with close contests noted; Republicans have never gained strength in House in midterm election while holding White House; photos; maps depict congressional districts with tight races (M)

New York Jets defeat San Diego Chargers, 44-13; photos (M)

James Colburn, who has suffered severe mental illness since childhood, faces execution by state of Texas on November 6 for murder he admits committing in 1994 when he was 17 years old; unsettled question in case is whether it matters that he dozed through own murder trial because of sedation with antipsychotic drugs; federal appeals court has rejected arguments by defense lawyers that trial was unconstitutional because condition rendered him incompetent to stand trial; prosecutors agree he has tortured psychiatric history, but cite findings of psychologists that he was sane at time of murder and is competent to stand trial; case is pending in US Supreme Court; photo (M)

Rodgers Rop of Kenya wins New York City Marathon in 2:08:17; becomes fourth man to win New York and Boston Marathons in same year, after Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar and Joseph Chebet; Kenyan sweep of top three places is completed by Christopher Cheboiboch in 2:08:17 and Laban Kipkemboi in 2:08:39; photos (M)

Interview with New York State Atty Gen Eliot Spitzer, who says he has given no thought to his political future beyond standing for re-election on November 5; his assault on seamier practices of leading brokerage houses has made him national figure with higher profile than many governors and senators and many political observers see him as Democratic front-runner for governor in 2006; photo (M)

Tom Golisano uses paid television broadcast to announce he is staying in race for New York governor; aides to Gov Pataki and Comptroller H Carl McCall term Golisano's wavering on issue a publicity stunt; photo (M)