Michiko Kakutani reviews book Still Holding by Bruce Wagner; photo (M)

Scrutinizing and Satirizing Hollywood's Tinsel Heaven

PATH commuters take first rush-hour train to World Trade Center station since its closing after Sept 11, 2001, attacks; reopening of station reopens wounds in minds of those who remember tragedy firsthand; photos (M)

At Ground Zero, a Stream of Commuters and Tears

News analysis of bill to create Medicare prescription drug benefit, now set to become law after foundering for years on ideological differences; divisions are seen in brutally polarized votes but seem overwhelmed by hunger for politically important deal; Republican Congressional leaders, Pres Bush, powerful elderly lobby and just enough Democrats align to push through vast new bill; AARP endorsement also seen key (M)

An Imperfect Compromise

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat New York Giants, 19-13; photos (M)

The Giants Sink While the Buccaneers Swim

Senate Republican leadership beats back two major challenges to bill that would add prescription drug benefits to Medicare, clearing away for biggest changes in program since it began in 1965; majority, with some Democratic support, breaks filibuster led by Edward Kennedy and then defeats budget challenge to House-passed measure that Pres Bush hopes to use in re-election campaign; eight of nine Democratic challengers see threat to Medicare and boon to special interests; Senate leader Bill Frist hails votes; photos; table; AARP endorsement is seen turning point (M)

SENATE REMOVES TWO ROADBLOCKS TO DRUG BENEFIT

Nielsen Media Research issues more detailed explanation of why its data show decline in younger males watching broadcast network television since fall season began, and its main finding is that changes to its methodology account for only 40 percent of decliine; report concludes that changes in lfiestyles may be affecting fidelity of participants in ratings system; executives at broadcast networks say they will reserve judgment on Nielsen's attempt to explain discrepancies; executives at ad agencies are more willing to accept findings of report, at least initially, though they express some reservations about results; drop in audience, amounting to 4.5 minutes a day in prime-time evening hours, worries marketers because they spend billions of dollars a year to reach younger male viewers, who generally do not watch much television to begin with (M)

Nielsen Offers More Details On Lost Viewers

Interview with veteran actor Ned Beatty, 66, who is playing Big Daddy in current Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Beatty, commenting on performances of co-stars Jason Patric and Ashley Judd, says Broadway is wasting talent of better-trained anonymous stage actors by relying on big-name film and television actors to draw crowds; photo (M)

Movie Stars Onstage: Big Daddy Speaks Out

Leo F Mullin will step aside as chief executive of Delta Air Lines; came under fire earlier this year from Congress and union officials over pay package they deemed excessive and has battled in vain for concessions from pilots; Gerald Grinstein, 71, will succeed Mullin as chief executive on Jan 1, and John F Smith Jr, 65, will become chairman when Mullin steps down from that post on April 23; photo of Mullin and Grinstein (M)

Embattled Chief Executive of Delta Air Lines to Step Down

Sahara Journal on trans-Sahara highway now under construction through shifting golden dunes of Mauritanian desert, between northern port of Nouadhibou and capital, Nouakchott; travelers, in theory, will soon be able to take ferry from Spain, drive through Morocco and Western Sahara and then cut across 300 miles of Mauritanian desert before continuing south along Atlantic coast or through savanna toward Nigeria; photos; map; epic battle to hold back shifting sands described; hope is for more tourists, but European governments are concerned about easier route for illegal migrants who already stream across Strait of Gibraltar (M)

Sahara Journal; Camel Crossing Ahead: A New Sahara Highway

US agreement to IAEA resolution on Iran noted

Accord on Iran Nuclear Issue

Article offers theories on why many of more than 5,000 submissions for memorial at World Trade Center site are by young artists and architects; recalls that young architects predominated in competitions to design Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, one for victims of 1995 bombing of Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and September 11 memorial at Pentagon; photos (M)

Young Ideas For Solemn Sites; Newcomers Dominate In Designs for Memorials

Finance Min Jaswant Singh says India's economy will grow at 'explosive' pace as government economic program encourages consumer spending and leads to higher production; photo (S)

World Business Briefing | Asia: India: Economy Expected To Surge

Apparent lapse in surveillance by American forces allowed looting of dangerous radioactive capsules from Saddam Hussein's testing site in desert outside Baghdad; one or two Iraqis are suspected of having radiation sickness; two capsules were recovered but officers fear they will not be able to address any other cases unless villagers break silence and identify looters; Gen Ricardo Sanchez orders investigation of why eight 75-foot-high radioactive testing poles were not secured after nuclear experts identified them in May, and why villagers were not spotted hauling away poles for scrap; one capsule was found in yard near clay bread oven, second buried near another house; photos; map; capsules, raised on cables to create irradiated environment, may have been used for live tests on animals and humans, as suggested in documents found earlier at site by The New York Times; International Atomic Energy Agency had towers under surveillance during 1990's (M)

THEFT OF COBALT IN IRAQ PROMPTS SECURITY INQUIRY

Royal Ahold's new management team says company's future partly depends on how it undoes its past; $1.1 billion accounting scandal wil probably result in regulatory charges against former executives; company must also address around $11 billion in debt that may conceivably require it to sell some of its American holdings; photo of chief executive Anders C Moberg (M)

At Ahold, Past Errors Shadow The Future

Deal between Pres Bush and Senate Republicans on media ownership rules noted

Deal on Media Rules

Interview with Dr Lawrence Steinberg, Temple University psychologist and MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice director, discusses capital punishment for offenders who commit crimes as juveniles; Steinberg argues in paper published in journal American Psychologist that young people should be viewed less guilty than adults for variety of reasons; impulse control, inability to accurately gauge consequences of actions and peer influence are presented as rationale for lower penalties; physical development of adolescents described; photos (M)

A CONVERSATION WITH -- Laurence Steinberg; Are Young Killers Evil, Or Works in Progress?

Finance Min Francis Mer inaugurates France's new financial market regulator, Autorite de Marches Financiers; Michael Prada is named its director (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: France: New Financial Regulator

Arizona Diamondbacks agree to trade pitcher Curt Schilling to Boston Red Sox for pitchers Casey Fossum and Brandon Lyon and two prospects; await Schilling's approval of deal; photos (M)

Schilling Now Has One Foot In Fenway

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column contends that New York Giants coach Jim Fassel's inability to pull Giants out of crisis in loss to Tampa Bay Buccaneers is reminiscent of his missed opportunity in playoff loss to San Francisco 49ers last year (M)

Sports of The Times; Fassel Has Never Shaken Playoff Loss Against 49ers

Countrywide admission test to enter top business schools in India is canceled after police discover that questions were leaked ahead of exam (S)

World Business Briefing | Asia: India: Business School Exam Canceled

LG Card, South Korea's largest credit card company, resumes cash operations after barely averting bankruptcy; creditors agree to provide 2 trillion won ($1.66 billion) in fresh loans; photo (M)

Loans Keep Korean Credit Card Issuer Afloat

New rules that allow people to change mobile phone companies while keeping their numbers send surge of customers into cellphone stores around country some stores see more than tripling of traffic; photo of scene at Verizon store in San Francisco (M)

The Lines Are Busy as Cellphone Clients Switch

Richard B Marx, James Luongo and Dennis Diggins discuss their work overseeing recovery of artifacts at World Trade Center repository at Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island; by time sorting stopped on July 2, 2002, their team had inspected 1.8 million tons of debris and 1,358 vehicles and recovered 54,000 personal items and more than 4,257 body parts; exhibition of artifacts opens at New-York Historical Society, culled from permanent exhibition about trade center at New York State Museum in Albany, and it will tour nation; photos (M)

History, Rescued From Dust; The Men Who Saved The Relics of 9/11

Primatologists Dr Michael L Wilson of University of Minnesota and Dr Richard W Wrangham of Harvard University write article in Annual Review of Anthropology that cites inroads in understanding chimpanzee behavior; holds that humans and chimps shared common ancestor as recently as five or six million years ago and study of chimp societies may provide clearer picture of early humans and human development; description of chimpanzee communities is given and parallels drawn to human societies; stark differences, such as monogamy and alpha male hierarchy, are discussed; charts; drawing (L)

A Course in Evolution, Taught by Chimps

Time Warner confirms sale of its Warner Music division for about $2.6 billion to investor group led by Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman Jr and investment firm Thomas H Lee; sale is pivotal point in Time Warner's recovery from disappointing aftermath of its merger with American Online in 2001; with proceeds from sale, which is expected to close in two months, company will have whittled its nearly $30 billion in debt down by about $10 billion; sale fulfills pledge by Time Warner chairman and chief executive Richard D Parsons that he will to trim company's debt by $8 billion by end of 2004; EMI has been trying for years to merge with or acquire major record company; analysts question whether EMI is big enough to compete on its own; photos (L)

November 25, 2003

Headlines from November 25, 2003

Scrutinizing and Satirizing Hollywood's Tinsel Heaven

At Ground Zero, a Stream of Commuters and Tears

An Imperfect Compromise

The Giants Sink While the Buccaneers Swim

SENATE REMOVES TWO ROADBLOCKS TO DRUG BENEFIT

Billboard 200

Shock'n Y'All

Afterglow

Now 14

The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Historical Context for November 25, 2003