February 26, 2004

Mel Gibson's career may be harmed because many of Hollywood's most prominant figures, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are uncomfortable over his new film, The Passion of the Christ, as well as his reluctance to distance himself from his father, Hutton Gibson, who calls Holocaust mostly fiction; DreamWorks principals Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen reportedly have privately expressed anger over film and chairmen of two other major studios say they would avoid working with Gibson (M)

Medicare's plan to compare effectiveness of Amgen's cancer drugs Aranesp with Johnson & Johnson's cheaper Procrit has been rendered pointless because drug industry persuaded Congress last fall to include provision in Medicare legislation forbidding program to use evidence that two drugs have 'functional equivalence' in its payment decisions; industry argued that such balancing act would discourage makers from developing drugs; tortured history of Procrit-Aranesp trial helps explain why comparative testing may not be cure for rising drug costs that its advocates contend; such tests not only become bogged down in politics, but black-and-white conclusions are hard to come by; chart; photo (M)

Shares of Softbank Corp tumble on news that Japanese police arrest four men on suspicion that they tried to extort money from company after obtaining personal data for as many as 4.6 million subscribers to its Yahoo BB broadband Internet service; graph (S)

New York Yankees infielders Enrique Wilson, Miguel Cairo and Homer Bush are candidates for starting job at second base (M)

Article on forthcoming Broadway revival of 1964 Bock and Harnick musical Fiddler on the Roof, starring Alfred Molina; it is getting its first serious makeover under direction of David Leveaux; photo (M)

Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis is charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine in connection with FBI sting operation during summer of 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia; photo (M)

US military has received 112 reports of sexual misconduct, including rape, from American servicewomen in Central Command, which includes Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, over last 18 months; about two dozen women at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas reported assaults in 2002 and Air Force Academy is still reeling from scandal there; Sec Donald Rumsfeld orders senior-level inquiry; issue comes to boil as senators of both parties sharply question top Pentagon officials for failure to protect servicewomen; photo; lawmakers say they are particularly appalled at assaults on women serving in remote combat zones where immediate help is not available; latest scandals became public with recent articles in Denver Post and pressure from lawmakers, especially women (M)

Minnesota Timberwolves defeat New Jersey Nets, 81-68; Timberwolves end Nets' 14-game winning streak and Nets coach Lawrence Frank's 13-game winning streak; photo (M)

Elvis Mitchell Critic's Notebook column on continuing lack of studio power of black actors over past four decades; notes that while Barbershop 2: Back in Business grossed $24.2 million, one of largest February weekends ever, Hollywood's perception of blacks and concentratioon of white power behind camera has not changed; photos (M)

Princeton University holds first conference on video-game studies, new field of academic study; photo (M)

California Public Employees' Retirement System will withhold its votes for Walt Disney Co's chief executive Michael D Eisner, saying it has lost complete confidence in Eisner's strategic vision and leadership in creating shareholder value in company; proxy adviser Glass, Lewis & Co issues no-confidence vote for Eisner and urges shareholders to withhold votes for him; news comes day after court documents are unsealed in case in Delaware related to Eisner's firing of Michael Ovitz, former Hollywood agent who received $140 million in severance package after he was ousted as president in December 1996; documents include report that suggests that Disney's board did not properly oversee hiring and firing of Ovitz; Eisner, in letter to Ovitz, details why Ovitz had to leave, including his attempts to hire chef and demands for costly office renovations; Eisner also said Ovitz was preoccupied with controlling news media, including Variety's editor Peter Bart, and objected to paying for all costs of his daughter's bat mitzvah, which was held at House of Blues, where Disney is part owner; photo (M)

New York Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather quits duties as coach and names Tom Renney interim coach; Rangers are poised to complete seventh consecutive season without playoff berth and are in 12th place in Eastern Conference; photos (M)