March 26, 2003

Matthew Purdy Our Towns column on Jeffrey Zaun, who was prisoner of war in Jan 1991 during Persian Gulf War, and is now on interview and talk-show circuit reflecting on his experience; Zaun has sued Iraq for damages and is angry that US is planning to use Iraqi assets that have been frozen for rebuilding Iraq rather than paying claims of former POW's (M)

CNN tells Connie Chung, one of its most prominent anchors, that it has dropped her prime-time program, effective immediately; Chung declines offer to stay with network in some other capacity; Chung joined CNN last summer; Chung's program Connie Chung Tonight has been suspended for coverage of war with Iraq; Chung has contract, worth about $2 billion per year, that has more than year left; Chung associate says Chung is shocked and extremely disappointed; photo (M)

Bertelsmann says profit fell 25 percent in 2002 because of writedown in value of its recently acquired Zomba record label; says operating earnings rose 63 percent, to $992 million (S)

First article in occasional series on home cooks; describes cooking with Seunghi Baek of Flushing, NY, who emigrated with her family from Seoul, South Korea, in 1970; cooking plays important role in Korean culture, but cuisine is especially difficult for Westerners to learn; photos; illustrations; recipes (L)

Arabs across Middle East, even those hating Saddam Hussein's regime, are taking pride in Iraq's resistance to US power, wanting him to be ousted but hoping he holds on for while to teach Americans a lesson; sentiment responds both to US expectation of quick victory and to years of repeated setbacks against Israel and perceived humiliations; educated elites, seeking deliverance from repressive governments, hope US wants to create model for region, but US lacks credible track record; suspicion of modern crusade against Islam also tends to overwhelm other considerations; regimes like Syria's also fear they are next (M)