January 29, 2005

New York is expected to become first state in nation to issue 'work readiness' credential to high school students who pass voluntary test measuring their ability to succeed in entry-level jobs; employers have complained for years that too many students leave high school without such basic skills; say work-readiness credential will make hiring decisions easier and cut employee turnover; test will be given by computer; other states are part of national plan by US Chamber of Commerce to create work-readiness credential that would be recognized across country, project that is supported by New York State Education and Labor Depts (M)

Bush administration officials say Michael Chertoff, who has been picked by Pres Bush to be homeland security secretary, advised CIA on legality of coercive interrogation methods on terror suspects under federal anti-torture statute; say he told intelligence agency that some coercive methods could be legal, but he advised against others; Chertoff's involvement in evaluating how far interrogators could go took place in 2002-3 when he headed Justice Dept's criminal division; advice came in form of responses to agency inquiries asking whether CIA employees risked being charged with crimes if particular interrogation techniques were used on specific detainees; Chertoff photo (M)

Pentagon chooses international team headed by Lockheed Martin to build next fleet of presidential helicopters; Sikorsky Aircraft, rival bidder, postioned itself as 'all-American' choice; Pentagon, in selecting Lockheed, signals new openness to foreign partners on sensitive military tasks; it also rewards Britain and Italy, two of staunchest US allies in Iraq war; Lockheed will receive $1.7 billion initially to begin program; helicopter fleet, which will be ready in 2009, will be built by joint venture of Lockheed and AgustaWestland, British-Italian venture that designed much of helicopter and will make about a third of it; photo (M)

Police charge Christopher A Rhodes with stabbing his 7-year-old daughter Jerica to death and leaving her body in bathroom at Roman Catholic school in Highland Falls, NY; photos (M)

Sheik Nasir Al Saedy, popular Shiite cleric, does not utter word about nationwide elections in sermon to 20,000 Iraqis less than 48 hours before vote; his silence forshadows less than overwhelming voter turnout in many parts of Iraq; Saedy is follower of rebel Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, and his sermon seems to settle question of Sadr's place in country's new democratic order; Iraq's mainstream Shiite leaders want Sadr and his vast following to give up their rebellion and turn to ballot box; Sadr's silence signals that he has decided to hedge his bets against election; photo (M)