Dallas Cowboys cut ties with running back Emmitt Smith, who holds record for career rushing yards; Smith says he still wants to play; New York Giants re-sign left tackle Luke Petitgout to six-year contract; photo (M)

Smith Era Ends in Dallas; Giants Re-Sign Petitgout

Article offers strategies for successful visit to family resorts; describes amenities, children's programs and attractions at Grand Wailea Hotel on Maui, Atlantis Paradise Island in Bahamas and Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla; photos (L)

Family Resorts: Part Idyll, Part Survival Test

Public companies controlled by families are common in Canada; Edward S Rogers, founder and chief executive of Rogers Communications, is expected to be succeed by his son Edward S Rogers Jr; David Thomson last May extended his family's control of Thomson Corp; his father Kenneth Thomson is son of company's founder Lord Thomson of Fleet; Power Corp founder-chairman Paul Desmarais has installed his sons Andre and Paul Jr as joint chief executives; photos (M)

Keeping Business in the Family

ABB, troubled Swiss maker of machinery, reports loss of $787 million for 2002, compared with loss of $691 million in 2001; chairman Jurgen Dormann promises to return company to profitability in 2003; photo (M)

Swiss Machinery Maker Posts Wider Loss

France's AXA posts 82 percent rise in profit for 2002; earnings were 949 million euros ($1.02 billion) compared with 520 million euros in 2001; AXA will reduce its dividend, to 0.34 euro from 0.56 euro per share; graph (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: France: Insurer Posts Gain

Star of Davidson Motorcycle Club of Armonk, NY, will join other clubs at Bike Week in Daytona, Fla, annual bikers' convention; most, but not all, members are Jewish, dispelling myth that good Jewish boys are not supposed to ride bikes or get their hands dirty; photo (M)

Wandering, All Right, but on Harleys; Jewish Bikers Band Together to Enjoy the Company and Their Cycles

Article on Reeves Callaway's C12 automobile; C12 is one of fastest and most exclusive cars in world, priced at $225,000 and built by Callaway Cars in Old Lyme, Conn; Callaway comments on upcoming expansion to California; other limited-edition, high-performance cars described; list; photos (M)

To Be the Fastest Car on the Road

Government of Saddam Hussein says it agrees 'in principle' to begin destroying ballistic missiles judged illegal because their range exceeds limits imposed after Persian Gulf war; decision is in letter to Hans Blix, chief United Nations weapons inspector, after he distributes report concluding that Iraq made 'very limited' response to disarmament requirements set forth by Security Council last Nov; report, to be delivered to Security Council on Feb 28, appears to offer some support for Bush administration's claim that Hussein is not serious about disarming; Iraq's pledge to destroy more than 120 missiles indicates Hussein is trying to head off military assault by US and its allies; Pres Bush dismisses Iraq's plan to destroy missiles, saying 'total, complete disarmament' is what has been demanded; senior administration officials claim their intense lobbying campaign is making progress toward securing 9 of 15 Security Council votes for American, British and Spanish resolution that would provide United Nations backing for military action (M)

'IN PRINCIPLE,' IRAQ AGREES TO DESTROY FORBIDDEN MISSILES

The Bush administration lowered the nation's terrorism alert level to yellow, or ''elevated risk,'' but warned of a continuing threat.   

Terrorism Alert Level Is Lowered a Notch

Deputy Defense Sec Paul D Wolfowitz disparages top Army general's assessment of number of troops needed to secure postwar Iraq, and dismisses newspaper articles claiming that Pentagon budget specialists have put cost of war and reconstruction at $60 billion to $95 billion in this fiscal year; says Gen Eric K Shinseki's estimate that several hundred thousand troops would be needed in postwar Iraq is 'wildly off the mark,' holding Pentagon has put figure closer to 100,000 troops; says as for cost of war, it is impossible to predict accurately a war's duration, its destruction and extent of rebuilding afterward; Wolfowitz's refusal to be pinned down on costs of war and peace in Iraq infuriates some Democratic members of House Budget Committee, who note that Defense Sec Donald H Rumsfeld and Mitchell E Daniels Jr, budget director, briefed Pres Bush on just such estimates on Feb 25; photo (M)

Pentagon Contradicts General On Iraq Occupation Force's Size

World Business Briefing | Europe: Spain: Telecom Loss

Brazil's economy grew more than 3.4 percent in last quarter of 2002, bringing annual growth to 1.52 percent; country's curreny, the real, fell by 35 percent against dollar (S)

World Business Briefing | Americas: Brazil: Growth Despite Turmoil

British government appoints Rachel Lomax to succeed Mervyn A King as deputy governor of Bank of England when King takes over from Sir Edward George as governor later this year; Richard Lambert will join Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates, in June (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Bank Official Selected

Pres Bush, in nominating Harvard economist N Gregory Mankiw as head of Council of Economic Advisers, has now replaced nearly everyone from his original economic team with people who at one time spoke out against kinds of policies Bush is prescribing; Mankiw wrote popular economics textbook Principles of Economics in which he ridiculed supply-side tax cuts of Pres Reagan as 'fad economics' conceived by 'charlatans and cranks'; Mankiw, if confirmed by Senate, would become one of three salesmen for even bigger plan by Bush to cut taxes by about $1.5 trilion over next 10 years and let government run big budget deficits for foreseeable future; Bush's decision to recruit Mankiw and other new members of economic team reflects pragmatic decision to install people who can project confidence at time when economy shows new signs of stalling and Democrats are gearing up for next election; Martin Anderson, senior fellow at Hoover Institute who served in Reagan White House and advised Bush during presidential campaign, criticizes Mankiw; administration officials dismiss criticisms of Mankiw; photos (M)

A Salesman for Bush's Tax Plan Who Has Belittled Similar Ideas

Microsoft Corp settles antitrust complaint filed by Taiwan Fair Trade Commission, but sides differ on how much company actually conceded; commission vice chairman Chen Chi Yuan says part of deal involves commitment by company to reduce prices for its computer software in Taiwan by 26.7 percent; Microsoft says that while it decided to lower its average prices for academic and consumer users in Taiwan by 26.7 percent, it has done so in connection with new marketing campaign and not part of settlement itself; regulators and Microsoft agree that settlement does not find any wrongdoing by Microsoft, which commission had accused of monopolistic behavior and artificially inflating price of Windows software (M)

Microsoft Settles an Antitrust Complaint Filed by Taiwan

Press conference for WBA heavyweight bout between Roy Jones Jr and John Ruiz held; focus from Jones's 33-pound weight disadvantage is momentarily overshadowed as fight between boxers' handlers takes place; photos (M)

A Sideshow Breaks Out As Fighters Weigh In

David Cronenberg's bleak minimalist film, adapted from Patrick McGrath's novel (with a screenplay by the author), crawls into the  mind of Dennis Cleg (Ralph Fiennes), a paranoid-schizophrenic man in his 30's who is discharged from a mental hospital into a grim halfway house near where he grew up in  East London. The desolate urban environment mirrors the mental condition of a man  whose warped memories of a homicide two decades earlier come flooding back as he  revisits childhood landmarks. Mr. Fiennes's mumbling, agitated psychotic is an  uncompromising portrait of a sad, creepy wreck. Miranda Richardson is equally disturbing in  the dual roles of his demure mother and a Cockney tart who personify the mother-whore  dichotomy that obsesses Dennis. The recurrent imagery of spider webs, jigsaw puzzles  and tangled string adds an extra layer of poetic creepiness. &#151; Stephen Holden

Into Sinister Webs Of a Jumbled Mind

Comcast Corp, in its first financial report since it acquired AT&T's cable business, posts strong growth in fourth-quarter revenue and cash flow; also announces solid 2003 forecast based on good subscriber numbers and lower-than-expected capital spending; report indicates that integration of Comcast and AT&T Broadband is going well and that Comcast's management is improving former AT&T systems; company posts net loss of $51 million compared with loss of $321 million year earlier; sales rose 55 percent, to $4.37 billion from $2.82 billion, in large part because of acquisition; Comcast is led by chief executive Brian L Roberts, who is son of company's founder Ralph J Roberts; photos (M)

Report by Comcast Is Upbeat, Buoying Cable TV Industry

Floyd Norris column on how low share prices have become stylish; says many investors know that stock can from $250 to $10, but after it gets to $10, it cannot lose any mopre than $10 of its remaining value; holds many companies have chosen not to do reverse split of shares until upturn in company's business; says many investors see reverse split as indication company's finances are improving; graph (M)

Cheap Chic: The Joys of Low Stock Prices

Fred Rogers, whose songs, stories and heart-to-heart talks on his popular television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood taught generations of children how to get along in world, dies at age of 74; program began nationally on public television in 1968; its last episode was shown in Aug 2001; about 300 of 1,700 shows Rogers made will continue to be shown; he won numerous awards over the years, including Presidential Medal of Freedom; photos (L)

Mister Rogers, TV's Friend For Children, Is Dead at 74

Les Miserables, which helped define mega-musical of 1980's, will close May 18, taking its place in record books as second longest-running Broadway show of all time; many of performers and backstage crew have come and gone, but others, like actor Nick Wyman and head carpenter Ron Fedeli, were there from start; they and others look back on long run; photos (M)

Ending Its Mega-Run, 'Les Miz' Comes Full Circle

Interpublic Group of Companies directors vote to demote chairman-chief executive John J Dooner Jr and replace him with vice chairman David Bell; Dooner is returning to McCann-Erickson World Group division as chairman and chief executive, succeeding James R Heekin III, who is fired; photo (M)

Chief Demoted In Shake-Up At Interpublic, The Ad Giant

Team New Zealand shatters mast during Race 4 of America's Cup, won by Swiss team Alinghi, which takes 4-0 lead in 5-of-9 race; photos (M)

New Zealand Mast Shatters As Alinghi Takes 4-0 Lead

Alessandra Stanley reviews season premiere of HBO series Six Feet Under; photos (M)

A Faster Pace For Burial Rites

New York Knicks to honor and retire jersey of Patrick Ewing, whose 15 seasons with team brought excitement, city pride and tremendous success, but no championship title; photos (M)

Time Is Now For Knicks To Honor Big Fella

Christopher William Brasher CBE was a British track and field athlete, Olympic champion, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon.

February 28, 2003

Headlines from February 28, 2003

Smith Era Ends in Dallas; Giants Re-Sign Petitgout

Family Resorts: Part Idyll, Part Survival Test

Keeping Business in the Family

Swiss Machinery Maker Posts Wider Loss

World Business Briefing | Europe: France: Insurer Posts Gain

Billboard 200

Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Home

Come Away With Me

Cocky

Chicago

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for February 28, 2003