Nokia Warns of Lower Sales, Blaming Economy and SARS

Manchester United conditionally agrees to sell star soccer player David Beckham to Barcelona for reported $50 million; Beckham will likely veto deal, but could be shopped by Manchester anyway; Beckham is celebrated by Britain as modern footballer who is living dream life; photos (M)

Will Beckham Bend and Accept Move to Barcelona?

Love Wins Out Against The Gods

Auction of directory business of Telecom Italia has attracted bids from four consortiums; bid prices are much higher than analysts expected, valuing directory business Seat Pagine Gialle as high as 5 billion euros ($5.83 billion), well above initial estimates of 3 billion euros; one bidder is consortium of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Apax Partners, which also owns Yell, British yellow pages publisher spun off from BT Group; two more bidding groups are made of American private equity firms--Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Texas Pacific Group and Blackstone Group in one consortium and Carlyle Group, Providence Equity Partners and Thomas H Lee Co in other; fourth group includes British firms Permira, CVC Capital Partners and BC Partners; photo (M)

Four Bidders Seen for Italian Yellow Pages

British drug regulators warn that GlaxoSmithKline's popular antidepressant Paxil causes depressed children to become more suicidal and should not be prescribed for them; Glaxo vice president Alan Metz says company is not warning American doctors against use of drug for depressed children; notes Paxil is not approved in US for treating children but that many doctors prescribe drug for children anyway (M)

Britain Says Use of Paxil By Children Is Dangerous

US Army investigates allegations that Col Kassem Saleh, 29-year veteran who led reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, also used Internet dating services to line up dozens of prospective wives in US and Canada; photos; angry women are bent on revenge, but it is unclear if he violated law or military regulations; 50-year-old Saleh, who wrote reams of poems and romantic messages, is also apparently married; chronic courting came to light after Washington television broadcast about one fiancee awaiting his return (M)

An Officer and a Gentleman? 50 Women Would Disagree

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses adoption of basketball, which is usually celebrated in and dominated by big-city players, by Texas, home to three successful NBA franchises--San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; City Game Is Branded By Texas

Empire, and the Pride Before a Fall

Russian and Soviet-bloc immigrants are infusing new life into ballroom dancing, owning 11 of 23 Fred Astaire dance studios in New York City area; examples are Atanasov brothers of Brooklyn, aged 9 to 14, who spend afternoons reluctantly taking lessons at King's DanceSport Center; Russians teach at other Astaire studios around country, and Sergei Nabatov teaches one-credit course at Brooklyn College; photos; Russian dominance stems from immigration of exquisitely trained dancers, who in turn spur something of revival of cheek-to-cheek dancing in US (M)

The Russians Are Coming, Stepping Lightly

Gov Pataki offers crucial support for developer Robert J Congel's plan to build nation's largest mall in Syracuse, NY; Congel for years has touted mall's capacity to transform upstate economy, but there has been nagging question about who would finance ambitious project; Pataki now supports Congel's concept of guaranteeing about $1.5 billion worth of bonds for project with property tax rebates developer is entitled to under state's Empire Zone program; if such a plan were enacted, as Congel wants, it would be first time that state funds meant to reimburse struggling businesses for property taxes were used as collateral for bonds, financing plan some critics say amounts to special gift for Congel; photos (M)

Governor Supports Rare Guarantees For Syracuse Mall

R W Apple Jr reports on production of clotted cream in southwest England, principally in counties of Devon and Cornwall; photos (M)

The Rich Source Of Indulgence

Lawyers at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, known for its prolific filing of shareholder suits against corporations and executives, are considering splitting firm in two; division of 220-lawyer firm, which has offices in several cities, including New York and San Diego, would be closely monitored by lawyers who represent shareholders and who defend companies; Milberg Weiss bills itself as largest contingent-fee plantiff-side firm involved in securities suits, and it has negotiated well-known settlements for hundreds of millions of dollars with companies; senior partners on both coasts say dividing of firm is not about money or differences in strategy; San Diego partner William S Lerach says it is hard to manage operation that big and diverse; Melvyn I Weiss, more staid but no less aggressive lawyer who would almost certainly be one of leaders of New York descendant of firm, emphasizes that plans are still tentative; defense lawyers are surprised by news but say shift would probably not make much difference to corporations; split could more significant for other plaintiff-side firms because if Milberg Weiss shrinks, they may find it easier to compete for lucrative lead counsel position in shareholder suits; firm would still dwarf most plaintiff firms even at half its size; photo (M)

Firm Famed for Holders' Suits May Split

Summary of some major stories on inside pages

INSIDE

Prof Michael McFaul reviews book Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum; photo (M)0

Camps Of Terror, Often Overlooked

World Business Briefing: Thailand: Hotel St

World Business Briefing | Asia: Thailand: Hotel Stake Sold

Anthony Bourdain article on pleasures of offal; gives recipes for sweetbreads and veal kidneys; photos (M)

Eating the Best Of the Rest

Black Group in South Africa To Buy Stake in Gold Mines

Canadian industrial companies worked harder in first quarter, using 82.8 percent of their capacity (S)0

World Business Briefing | Americas: Canada: Industrial Use Rises

Kevin Reilly, program executive from cable channel FX, is named president of prime-time development at NBC, new position; Reilly becomes second-ranking executive to entertainment chief Jeff Zucker; network dismisses Karey Burke, chief development executive, and Ted Herbert, chief in charge of internal production company NBC Studios; Joann Alfano, executive in charge of comedy development, left last week; NBC is making changes at time when its entertainment division, long ratings leader in network television, has lost gound to competitors; photos (M)

NBC Hires FX Executive to Revamp Its Hit Machine

World Business Briefing | Asia: China: Brewer Bought

Maritza J Soto of East Windsor, NJ, is charged with first-degree murder in death of her 21-month-old son, Daniel Soto, who was pronounced dead shortly after he was found, barely breathing, in family's apartment in East Windsor, NJ, on June 4; toddler had various bruises on his body, including marks on his genitals, and autopsy reveals he died of blunt force injuries that caused massive internal bleeding in his heart; state's Division of Youth and Family Services has taken custody of Daniel's twin brother and a 5-year-old brother (M)

Mother Charged With Murder In Death of Boy, 21 Months Old

 WorldCom Officials Resign In Wake of Investigations  Michael H. Salsbury, WorldCom's general counsel, and Susan Mayer, the treasurer, resigned, a day after a bankruptcy court examiner's report raised questions about their roles in the company's collapse.    The report suggested that the two executives had contributed to a breakdown in acceptable corporate behavior. [Page C5.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Members of Congress promise to investigate Freddie Mac, government-chartered buyer of home mortgages, and they gain Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan as ally in their efforts to end company's special exemptions from securities laws; lawmakers announce plans for at least one, and probably more hearings into Freddie Mac, which is conducting internal probe into its accounting practices; members of Congress criticize Freddie Mac for refusing to disclose terms of severance package of departing executives David Glenn, Leland C Brendsel and Vaughn A Clarke; Glenn will not receive any severance pay because he was fired; Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which monitors Freddie Mac, says company has decided to disclose severance terms and it expects to release information on June 11; Rep Richard H Baker says his House Financial Sevices subcommittee will hold hearing; Sen Richard C Shelby says Senate Banking Committee will be monitoring regulators' probe; possibility of yet another hearing is raised by Rep Cliff Stearns, chairman of House Energy and Commerce subcommittee (M)

Irate Members Of Congress Talk of Inquiries Into Freddie Mac

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: TV Merger Examined

Bloomberg administration settles lawsuit that opposed mayor's plans to reorganize New York City's local school districts; agrees to maintain small office in each of 32 existing community school districts; but new district offices will be shadow of current ones, which were often criticized as being bloated; administration also agrees to name superintendent for each district, retaining title that Schools Chancellor Joel I Klein had planned to eliminate (M)

Deal Clears Last Legal Obstacle To Mayor's Overhaul of Schools

David McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997.

June 11, 2003

Headlines from June 11, 2003

Nokia Warns of Lower Sales, Blaming Economy and SARS

Will Beckham Bend and Accept Move to Barcelona?

Love Wins Out Against The Gods

Four Bidders Seen for Italian Yellow Pages

Britain Says Use of Paxil By Children Is Dangerous

Billboard 200

How The West Was Won

Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Fallen

Thankful

Come Away With Me

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for June 11, 2003