November 5, 2002

Former Vice Pres Walter Mondale, who replaced late Democratic Sen Paul Wellstone in Minnesota's US Senate race week ago, takes part in televised election-eve debate with Republican challenger Norm Coleman in St Paul; both stake out distinct positions on major issues in last-minute showdown that pits iconic older statesman against can-do up-and-comer; Mondale portrays opponent as right-wing tool of White House who cannot be trusted; Coleman recites record as jobs-builder and says Mondale's is precisely kind of tone he hopes to change in Washington; debate described; photos (M)

Milwaukee Bucks defeat New York Knicks, 97-88; photos (M)

William H Webster, who became head of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board last week, has impeccable resume as public servant, but outside Washington, Webster's record is less than perfect; Webster has repeatedly taken positions that critics say have been at odds with his reputation since he retired from CIA 11 year sgo to build lucrative second career as corporate lawyer; lawyer who sued General Motors for making unsafe pickup trucks says that after GM hired Webster, he permitted GM to shelve his report into whether company had improperly destroyed documents relating to case; some labor leaders say Webster has not devoted enough time to his $100,000-a-year position on government-created board that monitors Teamsters union; former chief economist with Federal Communications Commission says Webster's involvement in NextWave, which defaulted on billions of dollars of payments to FCC, should disqualify him from being accounting board's next chairman; photo (M)

Researchers from Field Museum, Chicago, find 28 species of wildlife unknown to science during three-week inventory of Peru's mountains and high-altitude wetlands; Peruvian government declares area national park; museum's goal is to find and preserve earth's last remaining wild places; photos (M)

Ryanair, no-frills Irish airline, again surpasses market's profit expectations, but warns against expecting similar earnings gain during second half of year; reports that profit increased by 71 percent, to 150.9 million euros, or $150.5 million; revenue rose 35 percent, to 464.6 million euros ($463.3 million); company increases its full-year profit forecast to 230 million euros ($229.4 million), up from 200 million euros it expected previously; photo (M)

Federal bankruptcy examiner Richard L Thornburgh issues report saying WorldCom Inc's former chairman-chief executive Bernard J Ebbers used millions of dollars in loans from company for purposes that were never properly disclosed to shareholders, including construction of new home and gifts and loans to his friends and family; corporate loans to Ebbers, eventually totaling more than $400 million, had been described in company records as having been provided to help Ebbers meet margin calls on personal loans secured by his WorldCom stock holdings; WorldCom argued this benefited company by avoiding forced sale of Ebbers's shares, which would have depressed stock; report says Ebbers used $27 million of loans for personal and private business expenses; Ebbers pledged his WorldCom stock to secure $1 billion in loans for personal and business reasons; experts say disclosures raise new legal peril for Ebbers, whose actions at WorldCom are being investigatged by federal prosecutors and Securities and Exchange Commission; photo (M)

Irish luxury goods maker Waterford Wedgewood acquires direct marketing business Cash's & Shannon from Fairways Investments for 22 million euros ($21.9 million) in cash and stock(S)

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column contends that YankeeNets, parent company of New Jersey Nets, should negotiate with Cablevision Inc, parent company of New York Knicks, in effort to resolve heated dispute over rights to broadcast sporting events and bring New Jersey Nets telecasts to Manhattan fans; photos (M)

Telecom Italia, Italy's largest phone company, starts selling off half its 30 percent stake in Telekom Austria, with market value of $578 million, to reduce debt (S)

Meile Rockefeller, granddaughter of late New York Gov Nelson A Rockefeller, is arrested for disorderly conduct outside Gov Pataki's office, an act of disobedience to protest harsh drug laws passed in 1973, laws championed by Gov Rockefeller; she is arrested with two New York state senators and eight other people; she comments (M)

Accounting Firm Disputes Webster Claim on Company One of the nation's biggest accounting firms has accused William H. Webster, the head of the new accounting oversight board, of making ''false and misleading statements'' about what he knew of the financial problems of a company whose audit committee he headed. Mr. Webster denied the accusation by the accounting firm, BDO Seidman, and defended his work for the company, U.S. Technologies, which has been accused of fraud. But he said that he was considering whether to step down from the oversight board, a decision that he plans to make after the elections. [Page A1.]

Sharon Osbourne, unpredictable matriarch and business manager of MTV's hit family, stirs up war of words and news releases by MTV and ABC News over whether she is about to quit family series; ABC releases transcript of interview conducted by Barbara Walters for special edition of news magazine 20/20 on Nov 6, highlighted by news that Osbourne tells Walters that she wants out of series; Osbourne says despite signing contract with MTV that calls for Osbournes to make at least 20 more episodes, she has decided to end show after just 10 more; also says it was mistake for her family to even participate in show; release stuns MTV executives, who have no idea Osbourne said any such thing to ABC; MTV executive are convinced from recent conversations with Osbourne that show will be around for at least 20 episodes this season; Osbourne issues press release saying she has every intention of fulfilling commitment to MTV for full 20 episodes; photo (M)