October 7, 2004

Murmurs of dissent arise despite excitement over success of City Center's Fall for Dance Festival; sold-out festival filled theater for six nights of dance that brought five companies together on stage each night for $10 a ticket; skeptics wonder whether $1.1 million raised to cover cost of festival, mostly by corporate donors and foundations, would have been better spent helping small individual companies and whether audiences will pay more to see companies in their own season; photo (M)

Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column discusses death of actress Janet Leigh, whose portrayal of adulterous, white-collar criminal in movie Psycho was, at the time, shocking and iconoclastic (M)

Pres Bush delivers scathing, point-by-point critique of Sen John Kerry's stands on national security and economy, unapologetically defending his decision to go to war and his administration's handling of occupation of Iraq; his retooled and highly combative stump speech, delivered in Wilkes-Barre, Pa, seen as effort to make up ground that polls show he lost during first debate with Kerry; new speech signals his determination to stand firm over Iraq and take attention away from newly released report by American inspector Charles Duelfer detailing how Saddam Hussein's stockpiles of unconventional weapons had been dismantled years before invasion in 2003, and how his ability to pose serious military threat--justification for war that Bush still makes--had eroded after 1991; Bush does not mention Duelfer's report, or Defense Sec Donald Rumsfeld's recent statement that he sees no firm evidence of link between Hussein and Al Qaeda, or claim by former top American administrator in Iraq L Paul Bremer III that US did not put enough troops into Iraq to secure country; Bush's aim in speech is to do what many Republicans say he failed to do forcefully in debate: draw sharp, compelling differences between his positions and record and those of Kerry; Kerry's aides say Bush is seeking do-over after losing debate; photo (M)

Howard Stern Announces Move to Satellite Radio Howard Stern, one of the most popular but polarizing personalities in radio, announced that starting in January 2006 he would move from commercial broadcast radio to Sirius Satellite Radio. Listeners would have to pay a monthly fee for the satellite radio service. In his new job, Mr. Stern would no longer be bound by government strictures. ''I have to get away from all these restrictions,'' he said. The deal is a risky bet by Sirius that the addition of Mr. Stern will help the concept of pay-radio gain national acceptance -- and quickly bring the company to profitability. And it is a blow to Viacom, whose struggling Infinity broadcasting unit produces and syndicates the show. [Page A1.] Analysts and advertisers said Howard Stern's move may prove to be a seminal moment in the battle between satellite and broadcast radio. Advertising. [C4.] Lazard Partners Said to Back Plan A ''near unanimous'' majority of Lazard's partners have agreed to support Bruce Wasserstein's controversial plan to take the firm public, according to an internal memorandum sent to the firm's partners. [C13.] A.I.G. Standing Firm in Dispute The American International Group has decided to tough it out in its standoff with regulators, according to people briefed on the case and analysts who have spoken to top executives. But that position may be weighing on A.I.G.'s stock price, which has fallen 6.5 percent since the company disclosed two weeks ago that regulators were considering a lawsuit against the company. [C13.] Ex-PeopleSoft Chief Testifies The ousted chief executive of PeopleSoft, Craig A. Conway, told a Delaware judge that he did not lie to analysts in 2003 but had simply not been clear when he suggested at a meeting that all pending software orders had been completed. [C5.] United Airlines Makes Changes United Airlines said that it would cut 68 airplanes from its fleet, shift more responsibility for domestic routes to its regional carrier and expand its international flights. [C10.] Volkswagen Hires Executive Volkswagen announced that Wolfgang Bernhard, a former DaimlerChrysler executive, would take over its ailing flagship car brand. [World Business, Section W.] Banca Intesa Settles With Parmalat Banca Intesa agreed to pay Parmalat $197 million to settle a dispute that threatened to pit Intesa, Italy's largest bank, against the company in court. [World Business, Section W.] Major Stock Indicators Rise Stocks advanced amid optimism about earnings. The S.&P. 500 climbed 7.57 points, to 1,142.05. The Dow Jones industrial average added 62.24 points, to 10,239.92. The Nasdaq composite index increased 15.53 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,971.03. [C13.] Former Enron Treasurer Testifies Ben Glisan Jr., a former treasurer of Enron, testified publicly for the first time, saying he had participated in an array of crimes to help bolster the company's sagging financial performance. Mr. Glisan, who pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, at first invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when called to testify in a criminal case. But under a motion by the government he was granted immunity, which compelled him to testify. [C2.] School Finance Policy Gone Awry Texas's experiment in school finance equalization, known as Robin Hood, is a policy disaster. Virginia Postrel: Economic Scene. [C2.] Don't Use the 'E' Word Entrepreneur magazine is playing hardball to stop entrepreneurs from using the word entrepreneur. Small Business. [C2.]

Report by top American weapons inspector Charles A Duelfer says Iraq, under pressure from United Nations, 'essentially destroyed' its illicit weapons stockpiles months after Persian Gulf war in 1991, and its ability to produce such weapons had significantly eroded by time of American invasion in 2003; says its last secret factory, biological weapons plant, was eliminated in 1996; says Saddam Hussein had in effect sacrificed Iraq's illicit weapons in effort to win end to UN sanctions; says he used period between 1991 and 2003 to try to exploit avenues opened by sanctions, especially oil-for-food program, to lay groundwork for plan to resume weapons production if sanctions were lifted; finds no evidence that Iraq tried to restart those programs; findings uphold Iraq's prewar insistence that it did not possess chemical or biological weapons; they also show enormous distance between Bush administration's own prewar assertions, based on reports by American intelligence agencies, and what Duelfer's 15-month inquiry found since war; photos; excerpts from report (L)