June 2, 2003

NBC, which already pays highest prices in television for its long-running hit shows, faces earlier-than-expected renegotiation for Law & Order, another cornerstone of its top-rated line-up; show's producer Universal Television plans to bundle program and its spin-offs, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, into one deal worth over $550 million annually, which would make it most lucrative entertainment agreement in television history; NBC might try to purchase Universal Television in lieu of negotiating with company; photos (M)

Many people in western North Carolina are fiercely loyal to Eric R Rudolph, recently captured 36-year-old survivalist accused of bombing at 1996 Olympics and attacks on abortion clinics; with Rudolph in jail, investigation shifts to who might have helped him during five years that he eluded authorities; people in Peachtree, NC, brazenly voice support of Rudolph, who is accused of bomb attacks that killed two bystanders and maimed dozens; most supporters cite his anti-abortion views, glossing over most notorious charge against him, setting off pipe bomb in random crowd at Summer Olympics; is also wanted for attacks at abortion clinics in Atlanta and Birmingham and attack at gay nightclub in Atlanta; antigovernment current runs through towns like Peachtree and Murphy, where he was captured, which might explain why nobody turned in Rudolph; signs in store windows show their support for him; photos (M)

Pres Bush arrives in France for meeting of Group of 8, encountering European leaders who opposed war in Iraq and trying to increase pressure on Iran and North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons programs; offers pro forma handshakes to Pres Jacques Chirac of France and Chancellor Gerhard Schroder of Germany; Bush believes they undercut his effort against Saddam Hussein, but he shows no desire to rehash their differences; instead he sticks to main issue on his agenda--nonproliferation; his aides work behind scenes to sign countries up for new White House initiative to create international legal basis for seizing missiles, chemical and biological agents and nuclear components on high seas or in air; proposal is intended to give countries broader authority to quarantine North Korea, and perhaps Iran as well; it is unclear how many of traditionally American allies at meeting would agree; concerns about American empire can be heard within meeting halls and in huge protests moving through streets of Geneva and villages in both Switzerland and France; Bush will use economic forum to argue, as he already has, that world must unify behind American vision of confronting tyrants and unconventional weapons; photo; map (L)

Sinclair Broadcast Group has formed national team of anchorpersons, commentators and weathercasters that will eventually report on all of its 62 television stations; team appears on local news programs in far-flung cities, seamlessly woven into skeletal local programming; approach cuts costs of local journalism; imminent Federal Communications Commission decision that will likely let big media companies own even more stations would further decrease genuine local news coverage; civic groups see threat to local identity; photo (M)

Smart Money, which gained success as new magazine in 1990's with well-written advice on accumulating, managing and spending personal wealth, alters its focus toward issues of health as popularity of personal finance magazines dwindles; is owned jointly by Dow Jones and Hearst Corp; seeks to cut costs, revive advertising revenues and expand circulation; photos; graph of advertising pages in personal finance publications (M)