February 12, 2005

New York State cracks down on sellers of online cigarettes, who it says cost New York City alone $75 million a year in uncollected tax revenues; is pushing local postal officials and private carriers to stop delivering cigarettes bought online; is also negotiating with credit card companies to block transactions of online cigarettes, warning them that they could be held accountable for processing illegal transactions; says effort has as much to do with health as money; critics say state is engaging in economic protectionism (M)

Article on impact on workers and retirees in Sweden from five-year-old restructuring of state pension programs; Sweden, unlike Pres George Bush's Social Security overhaul proposal, imposes mandatory 2.5 percent savings on top of its basic benefit; 16 percent of wages go into overhauled pay-as-you-go system that defines contributions but no longer guarantees same benefits as in past; photos (M)

Inadequate roads, shortages of hotel rooms and overseas flights, high telecommunications fees and inadequate power are becoming major concerns as India's $17 billion outsourcing industry continues to grow; National Assn of Software and Service Cos president Kiran Karnik, in interview, says such shortcomings are hurting businesses, which have to bus thousands of employees to work, run their own generators and pay exorbitant rates for hotel rooms; group calls on government to make big investments in infrastructure across the board; photos (M)

National Hockey League Players Association executive director Bob Goodenow discusses real possibility that hockey season will be canceled because union and league cannot reach new collective bargaining agreement to end lockout; photos (M)

Boston Celtics defeat New York Knicks, 111-94; photo (M)

Arthur Miller, one of great American playwrights, whose work exposed flaws in fabric of American dream, dies at age 89; Miller grappled with weightiest matters of social conscience in his plays and in them often reflected or reinterpreted stormy and very public elements of his own life; Death of a Salesman, which opened on Broadway in 1949, established Miller as giant of American theater when he was only 33; photos (L)

Amgen decides not to make experimental drug available to four dozen patients with Parkinson's disease who participated in clinical trials; says that besides exposing patients to unnecessary risks, to let them continue treatment would only generate false hopes and may hinder development of improved versions of drug (M)

World's giant oil companies, making good on promises born of megamergers to cut costs, increase returns and raise record profits, find themselves in paradoxical position of making more money than they can comfortably spend; 10 biggest companies earned more than $100 billion in 2004, thanks to crude prices that averaged $41 a barrel in New York, and expect to exceed $1 trillion in sales; companies, rather than pouring large portion of money into drilling as fears of shortages grow and prices remain high, are giving much of their cash back to shareholders; graph (M)

Health officials say rare strain of HIV that is highly resistant to anti-retroviral drugs and appears to lead to rapid onset of AIDS has been detected in New York City man, who had unprotected sex with other men on multiple occasions while using crystal methamphetamine; say it is first time strain of HIV has been found that shows resistance to multiple drugs and leads to AIDS so quickly; say situation is alarming, but some AIDS specialists outside New York express skepticism about alarm; diagram shows how HIV replicates, and points where drugs can act (M)

Job of principal oboist is open in some of nation's leading symphony orchestras; Joseph Robinson, in latest departure, will retire as principal oboist of New York Philharmonic after 28 years; experts say sudden raft of openings appears to be confluence of health problems and retirements; there is also generational change under way, as recent musical descendants of father of American oboe playing, Marcel Tabuteau, who died in 1966, leave scene; photos (M)

Strategy document outlining proposals for eliminating threat from Al Qaeda, given to Condoleezza Rice as she assumed post of national security adviser in Jan 2001, warned that terror network had cells in US and 40 other countries and sought unconventional weapons; proposal presented to Rice by her top counterterrorism adviser, Richard A Clarke, laid out ways to step up fight against Al Qaeda, focusing on Osama bin Laden's headquarters in Afghanistan; Rice and other administration officials say document did not amount to full plan for taking on terrorist network; photo (M)

Wearing the American Dream After a Fashion Week in New York that was highlighted by podlike skirts, first-rate collections by Ralph Lauren (left) and Zac Posen presented a lean, sleek American look. A review by Cathy Horyn. FASHION, PAGE B20 Japan Urges North Korea To Rejoin Nuclear Talks Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan urged North Korea to re-engage in disarmament talks, a day after North Korea said it had nuclear arms. The clock is running on Japan's plan to bar most North Korean ships from its ports starting March 1. In Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney met South Korea's foreign minister, pressing him not to reward the North with trade deals. PAGE A6 Therapists Fear Losing Drug Psychiatrists said they were confused and concerned by the news that Canadian regulators had suspended the use of a common hyperactivity drug amid reports of deaths linked to its use. PAGE A13 CNN Executive Resigns Eason Jordan, the executive at CNN who was responsible for coordinating Iraq coverage, resigned, citing a tempest he had touched off at a discussion of the World Economic Forum in which he appeared to suggest that United States troops were targeting and killing journalists. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 Little Money for Oil Drilling The 10 biggest oil companies are on track to earn more than $100 billion in 2004. But even as fears of shortages grow, the companies are not pouring a large portion of their money into their basic business: drilling. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 THIS WEEKEND Get Ready for the Oscars A. O. Scott muses on what the acting nominations say about us and our preoccupations. Plus, handicapping the awards and looking ahead, already, to 2006. ARTS & LEISURE