November 5, 2003

World Business Briefing: The Netherlands: Sale of Nuÿ

Lawmakers in opposition Democratic Party of Japan promise to choose Eisuke Sakakibara as finance minister if they win control of government in national elections on Nov 9; Sakakibara is known as 'Mr Yen' for his ability to move financial markets when he was vice minister of finance for international affairs in second half of 1990's; polls show Democratic Party trailing ruling coalition led by Liberal Democratic Party (S)

CBS decision to move mini-series about Ronald and Nancy Reagan from network television to Showtime cable channel leaves executives denying they caved in to pressure from powerful Republican and conservative groups; CBS insists decision was 'moral call' by chairman Leslie Moonves because four-hour program presented liberal agenda and treated Reagans unfairly; backlash comes from Democrats like Sen Tom Daschle and Hollywood figures like Barbra Streisand, whose husband, James Brolin, plays Reagan; photo; network announced miniseries as love story but producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron reportedly made clear their aim of creating controversial film, intention also conveyed in Oct 21 article in The New York Times; Moonves then screened miniseries and reportedly emerged furious, determined to re-edit film (M)

Showdown over France's ballooning budget deficit is averted during meetings among European Union's finance ministers, when ticky question of whether to punish France for breaking budget rules is postponed for three weeks; French Finance Min Francis Mer promises that France will make greater efforts to reduce its deficit in 2004; France previously promised to cut next year's deficit by 0.6 percent, rather than by 1 percent as instructed by European Commission Pedro Solbes, Europe's commissioner of finance and economics, calls France's promise 'very encouraging'; photo (M)

A crew member who was in the pilothouse of the Staten Island ferry that crashed three weeks ago has told investigators that the pilot was standing upright and alone at the controls right up to the moment of impact, city officials said yesterday. The crew member, Robert Rush, also said that the ferry's captain was not in the pilothouse during the two minutes before the ferry struck a Staten Island pier, killing 10 people, the transportation commissioner, Iris Weinshall, said after a Congressional hearing on Staten Island.