November 20, 2002

Deutsche Post World Net, the German postal service, has been told to repay $913 million to the German government for abusing state subsidies but says it will fight that order. The repayment directive comes after a ruling by the European Commission earlier this year that the service breached European Union subsidy rules by using that money to undercut rivals in the package delivery market from 1994 to 1998. Deutsche Post said it would appeal the payment demand because the interest calculation was incorrect. Victor Homola (NYT)

Florence Fabricant comments on Thanksgiving Day meal using prepared dishes from catering shops and restaurants, that can be made to look and taste homemade; photo (M)

Officials round up 127 workers at La Guardia and Kennedy International Airports who either lied about criminal pasts or used fake identification to gain security clearance; 83 are arrested; apprehended workers are baggage handlers, luggage screeners, security guards and aircraft mechanics; crackdown is biggest so far in series of checks at major American airports; photo (M)

Bruce Weber reviews play Signals of Distress, adapted by Joshua Carlebach from novel by Jim Crace and performed by theater group Flying Machine; photo (M)

Chris Harn, Derrick Davis and Glen DaSilva, accused of manipulating computerized wagers on Breeders' Cup pick six winners, are expected to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering; photo (M)

Amanda Hesser comments on turkducken, Southern speciality that consists of boned chicken, boned duck and boned turkey, stuffed one inside the other like Russian dolls, and then roasted; photo (M)

Article on humiliation, more than sex or violence, as unifying principle behind successul reality shows like The Bachelor or Survivor; reports there is more ahead, from ABC's The Will, in which contestants compete for inheritance, to Exhaustion, Fox game show based on sleep deprivation; HBO hopes to top rivals with Cathouse, featuring hidden cameras in Nevada brothel; viewers have shown insatiable appetite for queasy thrill that comes from watching ordinary people suffer searing public humiliation in exchange for 15 minutes of dubious fame, or shame; The Bachelor finale, when Aaron chooses between golden-haired Brooke and 'brainy' brunette Helene, is expected to have highest ratings of year; photo; distaff version, The Bachelorette, is planned next year, though without same kick; shows with more benign pranks, such as Candid Camera revival or TNN's Oblivious, have dismal ratings, suggesting that viewers perfer humiliation served raw (M)

Harlem (NYC) fire forces evacuation of around 270 people from seven-story apartment building; photos (M)

Columbia University undergraduate students Bryan Laulicht and Sasha Bakhru are arrested for cheating on graduate school entrance exams with help of computers, wireless microphones and digital cameras; photos (M)

Vivendi Universal Faces Formal S.E.C. Investigation Vivendi Universal said that an informal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission had become a formal investigation. Vivendi declined to provide details but said that it would cooperate with the S.E.C. inquiry as well as one by the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. The investigations in the United States come atop similar inquiries in France, where officials are looking into the timeliness and accuracy with which Vivendi's former chief executive disclosed information to investors. The American investigations are also thought to be focusing on financial disclosures. [Page C6.]

Matthew Purdy Our Towns column discusses decision by many Millburn (NJ) residents to champion secession from Essex County in response to exorbitant property tax burdens on wealthiest homeowners (M)

John B Taylor is found guilty on all twenty counts of murder in execution-style slayings at Wendy's restaurant in Queens, New York City, in May 2000; jury convicts him of killing two bound and gagged workers, then commanding mentally-retarded accomplice to kill five others in basement; five of victims died, two survived; jury will now consider death penalty (M)