New York City Mayor Michael R Bloomberg proposes plan to limit campaign contributions by those who do business with city to $250 and eliminate government matching grants; plan is seen as challenge to City Council and Speaker Gifford Miller and other Councilmen, who accept gifts from groups that do business with city (M)

Mayor Moves To Limit Gifts In City Dealings

All-Star game could feature contentious pairing of Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza, who are bitter rivals and could be on same National League team; photos (M)

All-Star Voting Boosts Chance Of a Clemens-Piazza Battery

Aerovias Nacionales de Colombia, also known as Avianca, names Brazilian investor German Efromovich to run carrier; Efromovich and his company Grupo Synergy offer to inject $64 million into airline and assume its $300 million debt (S)

World Business Briefing | Americas: Colombia: Airline Selects Investor

Article profiles Jerry Speyer and Katherine Farley, New York cultural power couple; Farley is leading effort to transform Avery Fisher Hall and is involved in reconstruction of West 65th Street and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center; Speyer is driving force behind expansion of Museum of Modern Art and is leading campaign to raise $1 billion for New York-Presbyterian Hospital; photos (M)

New York's Cultural Power Brokers; Mixing the Real Estate Business and Everyone's Pleasure

Former Roslyn (NY) school official Pamela C Gluckin pleads not guilty to grand larceny; is accused of stealing $250,000 in school funds; New York State Comptroller's office will audit district to make sure internal controls were in place at time of crime; photo (M)

Ex-Long Island School Official Pleads Not Guilty in Larceny Case

Fiat SpA's board names Sergio Marchionne chief executive and says he will run daily operations; reaffirms Fiat's commitment to its money-losing car unit and says it will accelerate restructuring plan that aims for return to profit in 2006; photo (M)

Fiat Names Director as Chief And Vows to Remain in Autos

Article on raid by Spanish Civil Guard on underground rooms at Toro Albala Winery in Aguilar de la Frontera, Spain, containing more than 5,000 stone and other artifacts, some dating back to Phoenicians; winery owner Antonio Sanchez Romero say artifacts have been displayed at winery museum for years and that he has hired archaeologist Alberto Lopez to catalog items, first step toward making collection legal; photos (M)

A Raid in Spain for Antiquities That Were Plainly on Display

Peter Applebome Our Towns column discusses Norwich Historical Society president Bill Stanley, who is claiming that George Washington was 11th president of US since 10 other men presided over Continental Congress when country was loose confederation of states (M)

Our Towns; Can't Recall 11th President? Got a Dollar?

Article on popularity of exhibit of works by Amedeo Modigliani at Jewish Museum in New York City; museum has decided to extend hours to accommodate unexpected crowds; photo (M)

Jewish Museum Overflows With Mystique Of Modigliani

US intelligence officials say Ahmad Chalabi, former Bush administration ally on Iraqi governing council, told Iran about US breaking communications code of Iran's intelligence service; The New York Times and other media organizations publish details after adminstration withdraws request to withhold information on code-breaking; Chalabi reportedly told Iranian station chief in Baghdad about six weeks ago that US was reading communications of Iranian spy service, one of most sophisticated in Mideast; Iranian then used code to transmit information, tipping off US surveillance to Chalabi's role and leading to US break with him; FBI also opens espionage probe centering on very small number of people who had access to information, including Chalabi's civilian allies at Pentagon (M)

Chalabi Reportedly Told Iran That U.S. Had Code

Detroit Pistons defeat Indiana Pacers, 69-65, to win Eastern Conference final series, 4-2, and advance to NBA finals for first time since 1990; photos (M)

Flagrant Foul Helps Pistons Put Away The Pacers

New York Mets defeat Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, in extra innings; photo (M)

Leiter Strong Early as Mets Bulk Up Late

Fourth article in series American Dreamers: The Lure of Las Vegas interviews stripper known as Trixie on her life working in Palomino Club; photos; Trixie, 32, whose real name is Stephanie Vowell, is small-town Midwesterner who is one of many thousands who flock to gambling mecca, in hopes of earning money as springboard to something better (M)

A Life as a Live! Nude! Girl! Has a Few Strings Attached

Chef Peter Hoffman takes his cue for menu at restaurant Savoy from what is freshest at Greenmarket; recipe; photos (The Chef series) (M)

THE CHEF: Peter Hoffman; The Asparagus Pedals to Work

Virginia Heffernan reviews made-for-TV movie The Last Ride, starring Dennis Hopper; photos (M)

A Gas-Guzzling Revenge Plot Meets Souped-Up Sales Pitch

Oil for July delivery rises 6.1 percent to close at record $42.33 a barrel in New York trading as traders in Europe and US react to killing of 22 foreign workers in Khobar, Saudi Arabia; International Petroleum Exchange in London posts 5.6 percent rise in its benchmark oil contract; photo (Market Place column) (M)

Market Place; Oil Prices Set Another Record, Topping $42

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column discusses elimination of Serena and Venus Williams in quarterfinals of French Open; contends that days of Williams sisters' domination of women's tennis competition are over (M)

Sports of The Times; Losing Joint Ownership Of the Tour

Dan Lowenstein has developed PlayDine, which offers parents opportunity to eat at New York's finer restaurants and have their children cared for on premises before and after meal, giving kids opportunity to blow off steam and parents chance to enjoy their meal; parents are happy but some experts score idea as way to alleviate guilt of leaving children home, but still not interacting with them; photos (M)

Children On the Side, Baby Sitters On the Menu

Vivendi Universal, which cut its debt by $34 billion in almost two years, returns to investment-grade credit rating at Standard & Poor's Corp (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: France: Vivendi Rating Upgraded

Mel Karmazin resigns as president and chief operating officer of Viacom Inc; Tom Freston, chairman and chief executive of Viacom's MTV Networks, and Leslie Moonves, chairman of Viacom's CBS Inc, are named co-presidents; two executives find themselves in competition to succeed Sumner Redstone, who says he will step down as chief executive in three years; Karmazin, who reportedly decided to quit after learning that he had been excluded from short list of candidates to be next chief executive, will receive severance package of $30 million, about balance of his contract; his contract did not have any noncompete clauses, so he is free to work for competing companies; chart; photos (M)

Karmazin Ends a Turbulent Run at Viacom

Brazil posts record trade surplus of $3.1 billion in May; exports reach record $7.94 billion, while imports are $4.8 billion (S)

World Business Briefing | Americas: Brazil: Record Trade Surplus

Actress and model Monica Meadows is shot in arm in subway as train approaches Times Square station (NYC) and is recovering at Bellevue Hospital Center; no arrests have been made; photos (M)

Gunman Shoots Model, 22, in the Subway

Initial Offering of Postbank Hits Snag**Postbank's initial public offering has become messy story of leaked internal memos, finger-pointing, political meddling and deepening disagreement between client and its investment bankers over what Postbank is worth; Deutsche Bank, which is managing offering, along with Morgan Stanley, had to apologize to Postbank's parent, Deutsche Post, for publication of internal memo that estimated bank's market value at far less than amount sought by Deutsche Post chairman, Klaus Zumwinkel; Postbank's shares will begin trading on June 21, one day after its initial public offering; photo (M)

Initial Offering Of Postbank Hits Snags

Landmark study finds Prozac helps teenagers overcome depression far better than psychotherapy, and combination of two treatments produces best results, including reducing suicide risk; study, sponsored by National Institute of Mental Health, comes in midst of worldwide debate on treating children with antidepressants, and is first to compare psychotherapy and drug treatment for adolescents; study is notable for size and for fact that it had no drug-industry financing; findings are still unlikely to resolve controversy over whether antidepressants lead some young people to become suicidal; lead investigator, Dr John March of Duke University, explains (M)

ANTIDEPRESSANTS SEEN AS EFFECTIVE FOR ADOLESCENTS

 Judge Strikes Down Ban on Form of Abortion  A judge in San Francisco struck down a federal law that bans a form of abortion, saying it creates a risk of criminal liability for virtually all abortions performed after the first trimester. This was the first ruling on the merits of the law, the Partial Birth Abortion Act. The White House said it would continue to fight for the law.   PAGE A13    New Plan to Repair Hubble  NASA is seeking proposals for a robotic repair of the Hubble telescope, which had seemed doomed after maintenance missions by the space shuttle were ended.   PAGE A13

June 2, 2004

Headlines from June 2, 2004

Mayor Moves To Limit Gifts In City Dealings

All-Star Voting Boosts Chance Of a Clemens-Piazza Battery

World Business Briefing | Americas: Colombia: Airline Selects Investor

New York's Cultural Power Brokers; Mixing the Real Estate Business and Everyone's Pleasure

Ex-Long Island School Official Pleads Not Guilty in Larceny Case

Billboard 200

Confessions

Tical 0: The Prequel

Catalyst

Here For The Party

So-Called Chaos

Historical Context for June 2, 2004