South Korean fianncial officials are waging sales blitz on investors in New York; team, led by Finance Min Kim Jin-Pyo, is trying to overcome effects of bad first quarter for economy caused in part by international concern over North Korea's nuclear weapons program; foreign direct investment was down 48 percent in first quarter from year earlier; Bank of Korea trims its outlook for economic growth in 2003 to 4.1 percent, well below 6.1 percent growth recorded last year; photos (M)

Unwanted Attention for Korea

Thousands of employees at troubled Corus, world's fourth-largest steel maker, hold protests at plants across Europe to call for immediate resignation of chairman Sir Brian Moffat; Corus angered labor unions in early April when it announced new executive bonus plan, which is no longer linked to profitability, days after warning of plant closings and 3,000 job cuts to stem losses of about $629 million per year; Sir Brian will stay on until successor is found; photo (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Steel Employees Protest

ABB Ltd will ask stockholder approval to issue new shares worth up to $1.1 billion to pay for asbestos lawsuits (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Switzerland: ABB Proposes New Shares

Ottawa Senators defeat New York Islanders, 3-2, in double overtime to lead first-round playoff series, 2-1; photos (M)

Islanders Are Left Grasping After Bounces Go Other Way

 Unions at American Airlines To Conclude Voting Today  The three major unions at American Airlines said that they would conclude voting on $1.8 billion in labor concessions by this morning and try to get results to the company before 11 a.m.    That is the deadline American has set for a vote tally. If the votes are not counted by then, or if any group rejects concessions, the company will file for bankruptcy protection ''very soon,'' said Bruce Hicks, a company spokesman. [Page C2.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

People living near 60 Thompson, glamorous 12-story hotel in SoHo section of Manhattan, complain about noise created by hotel's revelers; neighbors say construction of hotel itself caused structural damage to nearby buildings; Jason Pomeranc, hotel's owner, and Stephen C Brandman, chief operating officer, contend many of complaints have been exaggerated or distorted by small group of cranky neighbors; photos (L)

A Hotel With Buzz, or Is It a Din?; Along With the Glamour, Noise Complaints in SoHo

American soldiers and some Iraqi police officers patrol Baghdad's devastated streets together for first time, but looting, shooting and burning continue; some shops reopen, but many have little to sell; more cars are seen on streets, plowing through intersections where stoplights are still dead; there are fewer looters, but also much less to loot; city is caught in moment between chaos and calm; there is growing joy in realization that Saddam Hussein is really gone, but anger that American troops have not stepped in strongly enough to prevent further destruction to city; general situation remains tense; in Saddam City, Shiite neighborhood now renamed Sadr City, some radicals call for founding of Islamic state as gun battles erupt again between rival groups; residents claim some are from other Arab nations; checkpoints manned by gunmen under control of Shiite religious leaders are still in place along main roads, taking role of regular police officers; photos (M)

G.I.'s and Iraqis Patrol Together To Bring Order

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Telecom Unit Sold

New Orleans Hornets defeat New Jersey Nets, 87-74; photo (M)

With Much At Stake, The Nets Crumble

Grundig, the Radio Maker, Is Insolvent

Denver Nuggets rookie Nikoloz Tskitishvili's first year in United States and NBA proved to be one of growth and adjustment; 19-year-old player was Nuggets' obscure and unknown fifth draft pick from Tbilisi, Georgia, and has emerged as symbol of ever-changing and multinational NBA; Tskitishvili biographical sketch; photos (L)

A Basketball and a Dream

Clyde Haberman column on City Hall's plans to close eight underused firehouses to help trim budget and protest rallies against shutdowns (M)

Red Ink And Writing On the Wall

Citigroup reports strong results for first quarter; net income was $4.1 billion, down from $4.8 billion year earlier; profits from continuing operations rose 18 percent from year ago; stock analysts as well as company's executives express relief that company appears to have finally put long list of problems behind it; chief executive Sanford I Weill comments (M)

Citigroup Reports Strong Results For First Quarter

Pentagon says major combat operations in Iraq are over after United States forces take control of Tikrit, last bastion of old government; Secretary of State Colin L Powell accuses Syria of harboring fleeing officials of Saddam Hussein's government; threatens Syria with economic or diplomatic sanctions; White House spokesman Ari Fleischer calls Syria 'rogue nation' and others in Bush administration accuse Syria of backing terrorists and amassing chemical and biological weapons; say Hussein's family members have fled Iraq into Syria in recent weeks; Syrian officials deny this, and also deny that they are developing chemical weapons; Pentagon officials say there are no plans to attack Syria; say military focus is to send some troops home, now that major combat has ended in Iraq, and to reposition others for long-term mission of making Iraq stable and secure; it is unclear how many troops will remain in Iraq and for how long; signs of shifting mission are evident, with ground forces increasingly assuming peacekeeping duties even as combat troops root out remnants of Iraqi military and irregular forces; photo (M)

PENTAGON ASSERTS THE MAIN FIGHTING IS FINISHED IN IRAQ

World Business Briefing | Europe: Germany: Insurer's Profit Rises

 Budget Threatens 2 Zoos  The Prospect Park Zoo and the Queens Zoo would close under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's budget plan, and funds for the New York Aquarium would be cut.   PAGE D1    Human Map Complete  Two years ahead of schedule, scientists say they have completed the Human Genome Project, producing a sequence of 3.1 billion units of DNA.   SCIENCE TIMES, PAGE F1

INSIDE

Saddam City is one of most dangerous parts of Baghdad week after Americans' arrival; 80-block wasteland has descended into lawlessness, filled with gunfire by day, which becomes even fiercer at night; Shiite residents of neighborhood, which deteriorated into slum under rule of Saddam Hussein, say they are being attacked by jealous and revengeful Sunnis, or by Saddam loyalists trying to create instability to make it harder for Americans to govern; photos (M)

Politics and Religion Join the Fray in Shiite Slum

New York Yankees defeat Toronto Blue Jays, 10-9; photo (M)

In Yankee Marathon, Matsui Gives Contreras His First Victory

Two teams of lawyers representing shareholders in AOL Time Warner are filing extensive complaints accusing company of defrauding investors, open legal battle that could determine extent of company's liability for AOL's disappointing acquisition of Time Warner in 2001; outcome of lawsuits will also say great deal about credibility of new management of AOL Time Warner, including Richard D Parsons, who took over as chief executive last year and will become chairman next month; Heins Mills & Olson is expected to file complaint contending AOL Time Warner overstated revenue by more than $1.7 billion; Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach files suit in state court in California; is representing University of California and Amalgamated Bank; clients lost more than $500 million in shares of AOL Time Warner; suits contend top executives, including chairman Stephen M Case, Parsons and former chief operating officer Robert W Pittman traded on inside information about precarious nature of company's finances when they sold company stock after merger closed; suit contends at same time executives were selling shares, AOL Time Warner was also buying its own shares on public market, telling investors that it believed stock was undervalued; says executives earned total of $936 million in profits from sale; photo (M)

Lawsuits Say AOL Investors Were Misled

Quitman County, Miss, is suing state because it says it cannot afford to provide defendants with anything more than assembly-line justice; Mississippi is among handful of states that provide no money for defense of indigent in noncapital cases; lawsuit comes on 40th anniversary of Supreme Court's landmark decision in Gideon v Wainwright, which held that poor people accused of serious crimes are entitled to legal representation paid for by government; new suit seeks answers to some questions left open by Gideon case that legal scholars, government officials and advocates for poor have asked for years: how decent a lawyer does Constitution require? who should pay for that lawyer? how much money should be paid? at present, counties and states have varied approaches to legal defense for poor; 27 states pay all or most of bill; 22 rely mostly or entirely on counties; Alabama depends on fees collected from others using court system; states that pay nothing toward indigent defense in noncapital cases, in addition to Miss, are Penna, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming; photos; map showing each state's spending for inidigent defense (L)

County Says It's Too Poor to Defend the Poor

Illinois Judge Nichols Byron cuts in half amount Philip Morris must post while it appeals court judgment; decision averts potential bankruptcy filing by company and ensures that it will make promised payment to state governments; Philip Morris faced prospect of having to put up $12 bilion bond while it appealed judge's ruling that it deceived smokers about dangers of 'light' cigarettes; Byron says company can secure its appeal by making cash payments over next year totaling $800 million and by pledging existing $6 billion company note plus interest payments; Philip Morris lawyer William S Ohlemeyer says company is pleased with decision and that it will make its scheduled payment to states; chart; photo (M)

Philip Morris Can Post Less For an Appeal

Branford, Conn, police charge Jennifer Page O'Connor with death of her 7-year-old daughter, Sara, who was shot in chest as she lay in bed on April 4; court records show that O'Connor, who has history of psychiatric and emotional problems, told officials that she shot her child because of frustration with her behavior and her learning problems at school; photo of Jennifer O'Connor (M)

Woman Charged in Shooting Death of Daughter, 7

IBM reports solid gains in sales and profit for first quarter, showing again company has made itself into bulwark of comparative stability amid deep slump in technology business; revenue was $20.1 billion, up 11 percent from year earlier; profit increased 8 percent; chief financial officer John Joyce comments (Market Place column) (M)

Market Place; I.B.M.'s Results Seem to Reassure Wall Street

Whitney Museum of American Art scraps plan to build ambitious expansion designed by Rem Koolhaas; director Maxwell L Anderson says museum will instead focus on building its endowment, currently at $45 million (M)

Whitney Scraps Expansion Plans

Recent acquisition of DirecTV by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp adds another piece to his global satellite empire and puts him at center of fierce technological battle--one in which he and other satellite operators have lost advantage they once had over cable operators; satellite and cable companies are investing heavily in technology to offer new interactive entertainment; satellite operators, including DirecTV, have lost large technological lead they held in mid-1990's; photo (M)

Trying to Close Technology Divide As Satellite Operators Battle Cable

Matías Soulé Malvano is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, right winger or forward for Serie A club Roma.

April 15, 2003

Headlines from April 15, 2003

Unwanted Attention for Korea

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Steel Employees Protest

World Business Briefing | Europe: Switzerland: ABB Proposes New Shares

Islanders Are Left Grasping After Bounces Go Other Way

BUSINESS DIGEST

Billboard 200

Meteora

One Heart

Now 12

Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Come Away With Me

Notable Births

Historical Context for April 15, 2003