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[†]
2002Philip Berrigan, American priest and activist (born 1923)[†]
Philip Francis “Phil” Berrigan was an American peace activist and Catholic priest with the Josephites. He engaged in nonviolent, civil disobedience in the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament and was often arrested.
Annual Army-Navy football game has become more symbolic than relevant to college football schedule, but now as US moves closer to war with Iraq, battle on field is strangely prescient; photos (M)
Analysis: United Airlines' descent from highly profitable airline--and world's largest--few years ago to one on cusp of bankruptcy involves far more than salaries and other costs; industry statistics and many analysts say what separates United from its peers who are still solvent may be its struggle to bring in new revenue even more than its inability to contain costs; chart; photo (M)
Fiat, Italy's largest manufacturer, receives government approval to cut as many as 8,100 jobs as it seeks to stem losses at its carmaking unit; unions protest proposal, signaling that there will be more of strikes that have roiled Fiat and Italy since company announced reductions in October (S)
Ben Brantley reviews revival of musical Man of La Mancha, written by Dale Wasserman with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion, directed by Jonathan Kent; Brian Stokes Mitchell stars; photos (M)
Highly contagious gastrointestinal virus that has afflicted hundreds of people on three cruise ships in last two months is now reported aboard Oceana; outbreaks of Norwalk-like virus, more than in recent years, create mystery for federal health officials and rattle passengers and cruise lines; tight quarters of ships provide ideal conditions for germs, rapid turnaround times make it difficult to eliminate them, and affected passengers loath to spend vacations in cabins may infect others, as may crew members working while ill; Dr Megan Murray, consultant for Holland America in outbreaks on four voyages, says illnesses may reflect many outbreaks now occurring on land; $11-billion cruise industry hs rebounded strongly since being hit by fears of terrorism; lines report no drop in bookings but company stocks have fallen sharply in recent days; Amsterdam and Disney Magic each canceled cruises for intensive disinfecting, but there is no reliable test to detect virus on surfaces and at least 23 strains of Norwalk virus can infect people; viruses are spread by 'fecal-oral route,' as when infected people do not wash hands after using toilet and then touch other people, food or common surfaces; photo; ship diagram; lastest outreak is on Oceana, new ship on its third cruise; passengers are all from Britain and some apparently got virus before boarding in Florida (L)
Chart lists pros and cons of New York Mets' signing of veteran pitcher Tom Glavine; chart (S)
Manhattan Dist Atty Robert Morgenthau's office issues report pointing to convicted killer, Matias Reyes, as probable rapist in brutal attack on Central Park jogger in 1989; report asks New York State Supreme Court to throw out convictions of five black men, then youths, who made graphic confessions to crime that horrified city at time of rampant crime and teenage marauding through streets, subways and parks; report cites DNA evidence pointing to Reyes, murderer and serial rapist who said last January that he alone attacked jogger; report says reconstructions suggest youths could not have raped jogger because they were marauding elsewhere in park, assaulting, robbing and harrassing other people; also cited are discrepancies in videotaped confessions and lack of physical evidence; report contains no sweeping admonitions about miscarriage of justice and does not portray five men as innocents, but focuses on narrow legal grounds to argue that they would probably not be convicted now; all have completed prison sentences; families react; photo; jogger, now 42, married and living in Connecticut, makes no comment; some prosecutors and police still believe youths started assault that Reyes continued; Reyes's account quoted (L)
Article on long-distance car buyers, those who seek certain specifications or special models and are willing to travel all over US in their search; dealers say shopping circle has widened as result of Internet car sales; photos (M)
Japan Finance Ministry survey finds that corporate capital spending fell 13.9 percent in quarter from July through September (S)
Cadbury Schweppes says chief executive John M Sunderland will step down in May to become chairman; he will be replaced by H Todd Stitzer (S)
Bush administration pressures Hans Blix and his UN inspection teams to identify key Iraqi weapons scientists and spirit them out of country so they can be offered asylum in exchange for disclosing where Saddam Hussein is hiding weapons of mass destruction; Condoleezza Rice meets with Blix in New York to press issue; US offers to set up witness protection program; private tips and defectors have contributed to US intelligence on secret Iraqi programs, but it is unclear how much US is sharing with UN; UN officials, uneasy with soliciting or demanding defections, is looking for way to conduct private interviews with Iraqi scientists inside country; Blix reportedly resists forcing Iraqi scientists to take life-threatening step of leaving for interrogation (M)
European Central Bank, yielding to evidence of economic malaise in Europe from Rome to Berlin, votes to cut interest rates by half percentage point, to 2.75 percent; graph (M)