December 24, 2004

The Dollar Continues To Slip Against the Euro The dollar touched a record low against the euro yesterday, with traders betting that it would fall further. The dollar has fallen about 7 percent against the euro since President Bush was re-elected, and investors have become worried about the trade deficit and the government's need to borrow money. PAGE C1 Democrats Reassess Abortion Democratic leaders say that their party needs to de-emphasize the issue of abortion rights, concerned that Republicans have hurt the Democratic Party by portraying it as an uncompromising champion of abortion. PAGE A15 Murder Rate Falls Again Homicides in New York City are down more than 5 percent as the year draws to a close, continuing a 14-year decline and causing some to ask if they have hit bottom. PAGE B1 Giuliani-Era Lawsuits Add Up Under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City has spent close to $2 million to settle lawsuits accusing the Giuliani administration of retaliation for the exercise of free speech or other rights. PAGE B1 Medicare's Antismoking Plan The Bush administration said Medicare would soon pay for counseling to help beneficiaries stop smoking, a major expansion of the services covered by the program. PAGE A16

Sanofi-Aventis, the drug maker, said shareholders approved the last step of its merger with Aventis and the takeover will be complete on Jan.1. In a special meeting in Paris, almost all of Sanofi's shareholders approved the absorption of Aventis. Sanofi-Aventis will operate jointly at the start of next year, the chairman, Jean-François Dehecq, above, said at the meeting. Mr. Dehecq oversaw the purchase of Aventis in part to reduce Sanofi's dependence on its best-selling drug, Plavix, whose patents are being challenged in the United States. Sanofi-Aventis, as the company has been called since Aug. 20, is counting on new products, including its experimental appetite suppressant, Acomplia, to increase earnings.

A federal judge yesterday cleared Jermaine O'Neal to return from his suspension and play in the Indiana Pacers' game on Christmas in Indianapolis against the Detroit Pistons -- and possibly for good. As a stormy wind howled through an open window, Judge George B. Daniels of United States District Court in Manhattan granted the N.B.A. players' association's request for a temporary restraining order to halt the league's 25-game suspension of O'Neal for his role in the Nov. 19 brawl during a game against the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The dollar hit another record low against the euro on Thursday, and sank against other major currencies, in what analysts said was a growing unease about the ballooning trade and budget deficits in the United States. The euro briefly traded at $1.35 against the dollar, with traders around the world betting that the dollar would fall further next year.

Israel and Jordan expanded a 1995 trade agreement between the countries to eliminate duties by 2010, the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Israel said. The accord will go into effect at the beginning of next year, cutting Jordanian duties on imports from Israel by a third and duties on Jordanian exports to Israel by half, the minister of industry and trade, Ehud Olmert, said. The duties will continue to decline until they are eliminated in 2010, the ministry said.