Toronto Blue Jays defeat New York Yankees, 7-0; photos (M)

Hernández, the Former Savior, Is Not the Godsend Anymore

American and Iraqi troops battle way into heart of Samarra, claiming to have taken more than half of town and killed more than 100 guerrillas; assault represents first major effort to reclaim areas lost to insurgents; follows concern that Samarra insurgents are cooperating with those in Falluja; effort marks largest joint operation with Iraqi forces; map; photos (M)

Aided by Iraqis, U.S. Seizes Part of Rebel Town

College football today is populated with quarterbacks who were seemingly bred to play in NFL; photos (M)

Quarterbacks' Seal of Approval: Made in the USA

Judge T S Ellis 3d sentences Darleen A Druyun, former top Air Force official, to nine months in prison after she acknowledges she favored Boeing Co in multibillion-dollar Defense contracts while seeking jobs at company for herself and family; Druyun pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy for negotiating job with Boeing overseeing its business with Pentagon; offers details on extent of her favoritism toward Boeing as well as difficult negotiations during which she admitted to misleading government investigators; apologizes to court for her actions; photo (M)

Ex-Pentagon Official Gets 9 Months for Conspiring to Favor Boeing

Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki gets 259th hit of season and breaks longstanding record set by George Sisler in 1920; photos (M)

Suzuki Breaks Record for Hits

US Airways and its pilots' union reach tentative deal on $300 million in annual wage and benefit cuts; deal, which is worth $1.8 billion over next six years, includes annual pay cuts of 18 percent; also reduces company's contribution to pilots' retirement benefits, and require pilots to fly more hours a month for same pay; chief executive Bruce R Lakefield calls deal 'major step forward' (M)

Pilots Reach Tentative Deal With US Airways on Pay Cuts

Article on issues raised by Pres Bush and Sen John Kerry in first debate; Kerry's position on Iraq has been consistent, but he has repeatedly changed his emphasis and has been unclear in expressing his views; both candidates call nuclear proliferation greatest threat to American security but differ on specifics and use facts loosely; Bush's statements on percentage of Al Qaeda operatives who have been brought to justice are seen as unreliable; both candidates seen as distorting actions taken or not taken on domestic security; photo (M)

A Closer Look at Statements From the Debate

About dozen Bengali-language weekly newspapers are published in New York City; City Planning Dept estimates that there are 47,500 Bengali speakers in city; Thikana, oldest of New York's Bangladeshi newspapers, was started in 1990 by M M Shaheen; he returned to Bangladesh in 1993 and won seat in Parliament as independent candidate; Thikana claims circulation of 15,000; photos (M)0

Immigrants With Ink in Their Blood

Richard Avedon, whose fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture, dies at 81; revolutionized 20th century fashion photography; photos (L)

Richard Avedon, the Eye of Fashion, Dies at 81

PeopleSoft fires its president and chief executive, Craig A Conway, move that appears to increase likelihood that company will be taken over by Oracle Corp; board, citing 'loss of confidence' in Conway, says decision is unrelated to $7.7 billion bid by Oracle; Conway has been vigorous opponent of hostile bid; board names David A Duffield, founder and chairman of PeopleSoft, as new chief executive, and appoints Kevin T Parker and W Phillip Wilmington as co-presidents, effective immediately; Justice Department says it will not appeal federal court decision in antitrust case last month that allowed Oracle to proceed with its bid; graph; photos (M)

Change of Direction at PeopleSoft

 Crude Oil Futures Top $50 On Concerns About Supply  Concerns about the interruption of supplies from the Gulf of Mexico because of Hurricane Ivan and threats to oil production because of unrest in Nigeria tipped crude oil over $50.  

BUSINESS DIGEST

All four of California's Major League Baseball team's--Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Anaheim Angels and San Francisco Giants--are in contention for playoffs; photos (M)

North-South Showdowns Bring Out State's Polar Opposites

First Command Financial Planning of Fort Worth is accused of using influence with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen T Michael Moseley to stymie Air Force's inquiry into its possible 'unethical or overly aggressive' sales practices and suitability of archaic and expensive mutual fund it marketed to military personnel; Air Force legal staff has stopped cooperating with securities industry investigation, but NASD is still pursuing inquiry and has been joined by Securities and Exchange Commission; First Command has also come under scrutiny of Congress; has informed Air Force it will no longer sponsor Tops in Blue, Air Force talent show; chart; photo (L)

Inquiry Stymied on Company With Air Force Ties

Ford Motor Co top executives have privately endorsed aggressive goal of reining in emissions from automaker's vehicles by 2030, joining companies like BP and Toyota in approaching issue as business opportunity rather than regulatory chore; Ford's goal would require improvement of about 80 percent in fuel economy of its cars and trucks by 2030; goal was laid out by chairman William Clay Ford Jr and other executives at Aug 3 meeting at headquarters in Michigan; photo (M)

Ford Lays Out a Move to Cut Auto Emissions

 Oil Tops $50 a Barrel on Concern About Supply  The price of crude oil rose 48 cents, to $50.12 a barrel, on concerns about the interruption of supplies from the Gulf of Mexico because of Hurricane Ivan and threats to production because of unrest in Nigeria.   PAGE C3    Suzuki Sets Record for Hits  Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners broke George Sisler's 84-year-old record for hits in a season, 257.   SPORTSSATURDAY, PAGE D1    Jail Term in Pentagon Case  A former Air Force official received nine months in prison for favoring Boeing in Pentagon contracts while seeking a job.   PAGE C1    Plume at Mount St. Helens  Mount St. Helens in Washington State sent up a plume of steam and ash, and scientists said more explosions were possible.   PAGE A8    COMING ON SUNDAY    More on Books and Arts  Starting this weekend, new and expanded offerings make their debut in The Times's coverage of books and the arts.    Arts & Leisure introduces a fresh design, with added critical commentary and news reporting.    The Book Review expands to include extra reviews, along with interviews, essays, feature articles on the publishing world and a weekly column of news and commentary on popular titles.  

INSIDE

'Transcripts of taped phone conversations of Ahmed Abdel Sattar, paralegal aide for lawyer Lynne F Stewart in 1995 trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, show Sattar served as gatekeeper for communications between far-flung Islamic militants; Sattar faces charges including conspiracy to kill and kidnap people in foreign country; Stewart is on trial for helping Abdel Rahman communicate with militants; Sattar, working with Osama bin Laden associate Rifai Ahmed Taha, helped forge religious decree in cleric's name calling on Muslims to kill Jews; map; photos (M)

Tracing Militants on a Staten Island Phone

Pres Bush steps up attack on Sen John Kerry during campaign stops in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire day after first presidential debate; Kerry ridicules Bush during stop in Florida; Democrats are jubilant, citing postdebate polls showing Kerry as victor; Karl Rove's appearance before press suggests Bush campaign is on defensive; Democrats hammer away at idea that Bush was angry and frustrated during debate; Bush seizes on Kerry's use of phrase 'global test' and insists he will never make defense of America subject to veto by other countries; photo (M)

Bush and Kerry Follow Debate With Sharp Jabs

Dan Barry, in About New York column, notes that National Collector's Mint, Port Chester, NY, company run by Avram C Freedberg, is selling 9/11 commemorative coin allegedly made of silver recovered at World Trade Center site; expresses doubt that silver in coins is Ground Zero Silver (M)i

A Silver Coin, Wrapped in Plain Brown

Chinese officials tell US officials that they will continue to push ahead with plans to float or revalue their currency, but avoid giving date to begin transformation; commitment falls short of immediate action recommended by International Monetary Fund and demands by American congress; pressure is building for China to announce change at meetings in Washington of IMF or at meeting with representatives of Group of 7 who meet with China for first time; Treas Sec John W Snow tells Chinese US wants pace to accelerate; other members of G-7 have said that continued, stable global economic growth requires China to relax its currency exchange rate immediately; G-7 industrialized nations fail to agree on program to give full debt relief to impoverished nations despite growing support for British proposal to use gold reserves at IMF to underwrite programs (M)

China Promises Currency Shift but Gives No Date

Bloomberg administration says New York City's commercial waste, much of which is shipped through Bronx and Brooklyn, will instead be directed to marine transfer station on Manhattan's West Side; announcement is first installment of larger plan that Mayor Michael R Bloomberg will release detailing how city intends to handle its trash over next two decades now that Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island is closed; plan to ship commercial waste from Manhattan is partly aimed at reducing traffic and pollution burden faced by neighborhoods in northwest Brooklyn and South Bronx; photo (M)

City Proposes Shipping Trash Via West Side

New York State has sustained declines in out-of-wedlock births for first time in generation; state officials say from 1999 to 2002, New York experienced greatest numerical reduction in births to unwed mothers of any state in US; births to unwed mothers of all ages in state dropped from 95,033 in 2000 to 90,746 in 2001 and to 89,840 in 2002; sociologists and policy makers disagree about causes of decline; New York receives $25 million grant from Health and Human Services Dept because of decrease (M)

It's a Trend: Births Out of Wedlock Are Falling in New York

The chairman of an obscure city commission that created a stir by granting an early jail release to Guy J. Velella said yesterday that he did not regret the decision.He said that he was motivated more by pity than regard for Mr. Velella, the former, once-powerful state senator.     The chairman, Raul Russi, said that while the panel is made up of mayoral appointees, he had not considered Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's possible reaction before making the decision. And now, with Mr. Bloomberg's order that the release of Mr. Velella be investigated and his suggestion that the panel be abolished, Mr. Russi said he was prepared to live with the consequences, including his possible dismissal.   

Pity, Not Politics, Was at Work in Velella Release, Official Says

Nextel Cup drivers prepare for EA Sports 500, third race in Chase for Championship (M)

Move Over, Forrest Gump, Here Comes Race of the Ages

Correction of Sept 30 review that misstated title of book Open Wide by Dade Hayes and Jonathan Bing

Corrections

Sudan agrees to allow 3,500 African Union troops into Darfur as monitors to oversee Sudanese police; Sudan has been under great pressure to restore security in region; Sudan has previously admitted only 68 unarmed monitors and 308 armed troops to protect them; United Nations special representative Jan Pronk has called for swift increase in number of African Union troops and broadening of their mandate; both Nigeria and Rwanda have committed troops, but logistical problems remain (M)

Sudan Agrees to Allow 3,500 African Union Troops Into Darfur

Parkrun is a collection of 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents.

The first parkrun, then known as the Bushy Park Time Trial, takes place in Bushy Park, London, UK.

October 2, 2004

Headlines from October 2, 2004

Hernández, the Former Savior, Is Not the Godsend Anymore

Aided by Iraqis, U.S. Seizes Part of Rebel Town

Quarterbacks' Seal of Approval: Made in the USA

Ex-Pentagon Official Gets 9 Months for Conspiring to Favor Boeing

Suzuki Breaks Record for Hits

Billboard 200

Suit

Sweat

Live Like You Were Dying

Genius Loves Company

Now 16

Historical Events

Historical Context for October 2, 2004