February 15, 2005

The American International Group, one of the world's largest insurance companies, said yesterday that it had received two new subpoenas from state and federal investigators. The disclosure came just days after many investors interpreted comments by top company officials as a signal that the worst of A.I.G.'s regulatory problems had been resolved. The subpoenas from Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, seek information on nontraditional insurance and transactions that some companies have used to improve the appearance of their financial statements.

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column discusses ongoing allegations of steroid use among Major League Baseball players and possibity that baseball's higher ups knew about drug use and did nothing; photo (M)

A state judge ruled last night that an additional $5.6 billion must be spent on the city's public schoolchildren every year to ensure them the opportunity for a sound basic education that they are guaranteed under the State Constitution. Beyond that, another $9.2 billion must be spent over the next five years to shrink class sizes, relieve overcrowding and provide the city's 1.1 million students with enough laboratories, libraries and other places in which to learn.

Verizon's V Cast, high-speed cellular phone network that delivers broadband Internet-quality video, debuts 24 Conspiracy and two other one-minute mobile episodes (referred to as mobisodes) especially shot and edited for cellphones; series, spinoff from TV program 24, is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television; network gives subscribers access to some 300 video clips, most from two to three minutes long; Cingular and Sprint offer similar service, called MobiTV, which makes more than 20 channels of television available; photo (M)

Article on Rachel Factor, Hawaiian-born Japanese-American actress and former Rockette who converted to Orthodox Judaism; Factor's solo show, J A P, about her religious journey, currently on US tour, is performed before all-female audiences at synagogues, community centers and Jewish high schools; photos (M)