KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is cutting thousands of jobs to try to counteract weak economy, war in Iraq and cancellations related to passenger concerns about contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Netherlands: Airline Cutting Jobs

INSIDE

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter awaits MRI, which will reveal if he can come back in one month or one year from dislocated shoulder injury sustained opening day; photos (M)

Yankees Have to Make Do for Month or More Without Jeter

Matthew Purdy column on reaction in Pennsauken, NJ, to arrest of Sgt James Riley, Pennsauken native, in Iraq (M)

Our Towns; A P.O.W. Brings War Close to Home

Bureau of Labor Statistics issues report on earnings of New Yorkers, and it shows that chief executives, lawyers and surgeons make more than most other groups; reports that workers in New York earn on average 24.9 percent more than national average in their professions; table shows average wages for selected occupations (M)

Who Makes More Than Who in New York

Profile of Katrin Sass, East German movie star whose career collapsed after fall of Berlin Wall; Sass has found success again in new film Goodbye, Lenin!, on its way to breaking German box office records; photos (M)

Berlin's Wall Is Down, but Try to Keep Mom From Finding Out

Big Three automakers broaden their no-interest loan offers in wake of continued sluggish sales; General Motors offered incentives on March 31 and Chrysler and Ford will make similar moves; AutoData Corp says US sales in March fell 3 percent for GM and Chrysler and 4.3 percent for Ford; sales rose 9.2 percent at Toyota and 20.7 percent at Honda; chart; photo (M)

Detroit on a Mission: No Slip in Auto Sales

Special Operations forces rescue Pfc Jessica Lynch, 19, from hospital in Nasirya, Iraq, where she was held captive since March 23, when her army maintenance unit took wrong turn and was attacked; others in 15-member unit are listed as missing, captured or confirmed dead; secret raid is carried out after US intelligence learns of whereabouts (M)

Commandos Rescue Soldier; She Was Held Since Ambush

Neil Jordan's film is nominally a remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's 1955 atmospheric poetic noir, &quot;Bob le Flambeur.&quot; But Mr. Jordan has soaked his remake in color, and has added a few cylinders to the combustion. The movie feels more like a breezy, jazz-inflected version of the original: it's a triumph of flourish, with all weathered movie-star-size gestures. &quot;The Good Thief&quot; combines American flamboyance and French existentialist delirium. As played by Mr. Nolte, Bob is a brawny noir pin-up as trickster — an old dog who never lets on how many tricks he knows.  Mr. Jordan gives the proceedings a double-heist plot turn. This ultimate caper film has a brazen ebullience, something unusual for Mr. Jordan. — Elvis Mitchell

Decadence and Decay as Art Forms

Sigalit Brunn, who lost her firefighter husband, Andrew Brunn, in collapse of World Trade Center, says she is in training to become New York City firefighter; served in Israeli Army and believes she can meet department's demanding standards; photos (M)

Seeking to Fill a Husband's Boots; Firefighter's Widow Tries to Join the Department

Texas prosecutors move to overturn drug convictions of 38 people, almost all black, who were caught in series of 1999 arrests in Tulia and prosecuted on basis of uncorroborated testimony of undercover officer Thomas Coleman; extraordinary turnaround follows hearings in which Coleman and others testified about his troubled career, unorthodox methods, errors and apparent racism; defense lawyers have also faulted poisonous race relations in town; Ron Chapman, retired state judge presiding, will recommend higher court overturn convictions; 16 people still in jail will remain there for now; photo; county will also pay $250,000 to 38 defendants; controversial case reviewed (M)

Texas Court Acts to Clear 38 In Town-Splitting Drug Case

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column contends that collision between New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Toronto Blue Jays catcher Ken Huckaby, which resulted in dislocated shoulder for Jeter, was no one's fault; photos (M)

Sports of The Times; Forget About Blame. It's a No-Fault Collision.

Unease is growing in Great Britain over how United States is waging war in Iraq; many see Americans as approaching situation with dangerously inappropriate bluster and swagger; media are increasingly portraying Americans as clumsy invaders, ill-prepared to reach out to population they have pledged to liberate; British troops, in contrast, are seen as well versed in guerrilla warfare and dealing with frightened or hostile civilian populations; latest opinion polls show support for war at slightly more than 50 percent, but opposition remains vigorous; photo (M)

Most Britons Back the War, but Mistrust How the U.S. Is Waging It

William Grimes column applauds ban on smoking in New York City restaurants, but says that as former smoker, he recalls pleasures of lighting up after a meal (M)

On A Clear Day I Can Eat Forever

Some retired generals whose televised statements about strategy of war in Iraq have drawn fire from Pentagon defend their role in offering tough assessments of military progress; Gen Barry McCaffrey, who has been among those most openly critical, disputes suggestions by Gen Richard B Myers and Sen John W Warner, chairman of Armed Services Committee, that retired military leaders are out of line in offering critical views; others, including Gen Wesley Clark and Maj Gen Burton Moore, say they understand Pentagon's concerns and will keep them in mind; photo (M)

Ex-Generals Defend Their Blunt Comments

Entertainer Madonna decides not to air antiwar video promoting her new single American Life; says this is inappropriate time due to volatile state of world and possibility of offending viewers who might misinterpret video; photo (S)

Madonna Cites War And Pulls Her Video

Tourists are reluctant to travel to Europe during war in Iraq; if war ends soon, American animosity toward France and Germany, opponents of war, may continue to curtail travel; economists at Oxford Economic Forecasting recently estimated that prolonged war could cost European Union's 15 member countries as many as 260,000 jobs, and slice economic output by as much as 0.7 percent; photo (M)

Tourists Think Twice About Travel to Europe During War

Hundreds of men from across the Arab world and beyond gather in Damascus, Syria, each day, aiming to make their way to Baghdad to fight coalition troops. A combination of religious zeal and Arab nationalism is driving the volunteers, and not a day goes by without some exhortation from Iraq for the faithful to join the fray.   

Arab Volunteers Seek To Join Fight for Iraq

Defense Sec Donald Rumsfeld and chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Richard Myers denounce critics of Iraq campaign strategy as misinformed, inaccurate and harmful to troops in combat; photos; Myers angrily mocks criticism by retired generals analyzing war on television, but reserves harshest judgments for serving officers who criticize war plan; also reprimands news media for reporting anonymous dissent, although Rumsfeld adds reminder about free speech; one critic, retired Gen Barry McCaffrey, who led infantry division in 1991 war, replies that he knows 'a lot more about fighting' than Rumsfeld, and that problem is decision to attack deep into Iraq with one division and no rear-area security or second front; Rumsfeld and Myers brag about war plan's flexibility; Rumsfeld's remark that he cannot take credit for plan of Gen Tommy Franks draws questions about whether he is diminishing own role, and irked reply (M)

TOP-RANKED OFFICER DENOUNCES CRITICS OF IRAQ CAMPAIGN

'Wild' foods are turning up on New York City restaurant menus, as they do each spring, including striped bass, morels, ramps and fiddleheads; exactly how wild they are varies from ingredient to ingredient; photos (M)

Is it Nature or Nurture, That Makes Spring Menus Sing?

American Airlines' rivals are likely to pursue same kinds of labor cuts as American; US Airways used bankruptcy to wrest big concessions from its unions, and United Airlines is trying to do same; American could prove that such cuts can be won outside Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, even from hostile unions; chart (Market Place column) (M)

Market Place; Rivals Are Likely to Imitate American's Stance on Labor

Frank J Prial reports on tasting panel's findings after sampling 17 dry gins; drawing (L)

A Garden of Delights In a Glass of Gin

South Korea posts its third consecutive trade deficit in March despite 18 percent increase in exports; exports totaled $15.6 billion, but they were $362 million less than imports; Hyundai Motor posts 7.7 percent increase in auto sales, and its affiliate Kia Motors sold 45 percent more vehicles for export (S)

World Business Briefing | Asia: South Korea: Trade Gap

Most Canadian business executives believe that Canadian government's decision not to send troops to Iraq will cause US resentment and harm business ties; Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president-chief executive Perrin Beatty says political tensions with US could jeopardize contracts for Canadian companies; says Canada needs to maintain strong relations with US with more than $1 million in trade taking place between two countries and two million Canadian jobs on line; Canadian aerospace and tourism industries have each complained to government in Ottawa about potential commercial fallout of decision not to back US in Iraq; Ipsos-Reid poll shows 59 percent of Canadians are pleased that their country stayed out of fighting in Iraq, but 61 percent think decision will have 'serious economic consequences' for Canada; photos (M)

Trade Concerns as Canada Sits Out War

French engineering company Alstom says it received takeover offer from unknown Dutch investor called MJ Global Acquisition valued at $763.5 million; spokesman says offer could be joke (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: France: A Takeover Offer

Charles Edwin Hatcher , known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War".

April 2, 2003

Headlines from April 2, 2003

World Business Briefing | Europe: Netherlands: Airline Cutting Jobs

INSIDE

Yankees Have to Make Do for Month or More Without Jeter

Our Towns; A P.O.W. Brings War Close to Home

Who Makes More Than Who in New York

Billboard 200

Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Come Away With Me

Chocolate Factory

Chicago

Fallen

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for April 2, 2003