September 26, 2003

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Germany's Ifo Institute business c

Justice Dept says it is willing to allow Judge Leonie M Brinkema to dismiss indictment of Zacarias Moussaoui, only person charged in American court with conspiring in 9/11 terrorist attacks, in order to move case into appeals court where charges could be quickly reinstated; judge has already signaled that she might have no other option because of government's refusal to allow Moussaoui and his court-appointed lawyers to interview captured terrorists from Al Qaeda who might provide valuable defense testimony; Bush administration officials have made clear that if Moussaoui cannot be prosecuted in civilian court because of question of defense witnesses, he will be moved to military tribunal, where he may have fewer rights to seek testimony from captured terrorists; photo (M)

Management crisis at New York Stock Exchange has raised long-dormant questions about whether exchange can continue to be regulator and presents major challenge for Securities and Exchange Commission; broad change is beginning to seem inevitable with H Carl McCall calling for division of regulatory and commercial functions when announcing his resignation from exchange's board; that change will test regulatory mettle of commission's new leader William H Donaldson, who helped topple Richard A Grasso and anoint his interim successor; Donaldson is moving gingerly in debate over exchange's future; commission and exchange officials expect Donaldson to be consulted before exchange discloses plan to overhaul how it is governed and structured; photo (M)

New legislation and another court ruling are latest twists in confusing off-again-on-again drama invoving federal effort to prevent unwanted telephone solicitation; Congress overwhelmingly passes legislation aimed at allowing national do-not-call registry against unwanted telemarketing to take effect next week as planned, effectively rendering moot federal judge's injunction against registry; hours later, second judge declares program a violation of free speech; unless it is overturned by higher court, latest judicial decision, by Federal District Judge Edward W Nottingham of Denver, would block government from going ahead on schedule with program that almost 50 million American households have signed up for; Rep Ed Markey, longtime advocate of do-not-call list, says he is confident second ruling would be overturned by higher court; claims Supreme Court has historically given much greater protection to political speech than to commercial speech; photo (M)

MOST people can't wait to flee the city on the weekend to second homes on the beach or in the mountains. But for some who already live in bucolic surroundings, the commute is in reverse. Page 7.

New information on fatal Columbia mission shows that NASA engineers' desire for outside help in getting look at shuttle's wing was more intense and widespread than what was described in Aug 26 final report of board investigating Feb 1 accident, which killed all seven astronauts aboard; new information makes it clear that failure to follow up on request for outside imagery, first step in discovering damage and perhaps mounting rescue effort, did not simply fall through bureaucratic cracks but was actively, even hotly resisted by mission managers; board report spoke of 'broken safety culture' within NASA but did not seek to lay blame on individual managers; Congress has opened everal lines of inquiry into mission, and holding individuals accountable is part of its agenda; five days into flight, Rodney Rocha, NASA engineer, was chosen by his fellow engineers to ask shuttle mission managers to request images of impact area, perhaps from American spy satellites or powerful telescopes on ground; he says he was rebuffed at least six times; curt e-mail to him from Columbia's flight director LeRoy Cain concludes 'I consider it to be a dead issue'; numerous engineers, most of whom have not spoken publicly until now, say discord between them and managers stands out in stark relief; chronology of events; photos (L)

H Carl McCall resigns from board of New York Stock Exchange in aftermath of pay furor involving former chairman Richard A Grasso; says his resignation is voluntary, but he has been criticized for signing, in his role as chairman of exchange's compensation committee, contract extension that would have awarded Grasso $48 million on top of $139.5 million he had already collected; McCall, whose resignation is effective Sept 29, day before John S Reed is to take over as chairman, calls for seven major reforms of Big Board; photo (M)

Elvis Mitchell reviews first segment of seven-part PBS series The Blues, directed by Martin Scorsese; photos (M)

Financier Martin Ebner is acquitted of charge that the tried to profit from inside information on planned restructuring of Pirelli in 1998; three-judge panel in Zurich says that prosecutors failed to show that Ebner sought financial advantage when he sold shares in Pirelli subsidiary before tire maker announced plans to simplify its structure (M)

World Busin

Ben Brantley reviews play Omnium Gatherum by Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros, directed by Will Frears; Kristine Nielsen stars; photo (M)