New York Mets defeat Houston Astros, 4-3; photo (M)

Franco Tripped Up by Mets and Spikes

Anita Gates reviews Showtime musical parody of 1930's propaganda film Reefer Madness; photos (M)

Zombies Get the Munchies, Too

NOT often do you get to attend a news conference that begins with a prayer. Rarer yet is it a prayer imploring God to ''bless this press conference.'' Presumably, the appeal for divine protection extended to the reporters who were on hand. That is really something you don't hear every day.    Then again, you do not have many news conferences in New York called by evangelical Christian ministers intent on making a point -- and one point only -- about the race for mayor. They beseeched voters to defeat anyone who supports same-sex marriage. That would seem to narrow the field of acceptable candidates considerably. After all, they singled out the Republican front-runner, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and his four major Democratic opponents. All are fine with the concept of same-sex marriage, even if they may differ on legal strategies.   

Preaching to Candidates Unconverted

Summary of some of major stories on inside pages; photo

INSIDE

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column discusses New York Yankees' hiring of motivational coach Chad Bohling, who will be put to work immediately as Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield has run-in with fan in game against Boston Red Sox; photo (M)

A Touch of Advice Under Their Hats Could Help Yanks

Boston Red Sox defeat New York Yankees, 8-5; photos (M)

Red Sox, and Fans, Batter Yankees

Caryn James Critic's Notebook column on Martin McDonagh's latest play, The Pillowman, in light of his earlier works and recent retrospective of work by artist Paula Rego, which included large triptych based on play; photos (M)

A Haunting Play Resounds Far Beyond the Stage

 Foreign Cars' Popularity Dogs U.S. Automakers  The Big Two automobile giants offer plenty of explanations for their recent financial troubles, from soaring health care costs to rising gas prices and creeping interest rates. But consumers and industry experts say General Motors and Ford have swerved off course for a far more basic reason: not enough people like their cars.     Despite free loans and rebates worth several thousand dollars, G.M. and Ford are losing sales to perennial competitors like Toyota and newer rivals like Hyundai. [Page A1.]    General Motors shares fell to a more than 12-year low as annual meeting with labor leaders yielded little hope that autoworkers might take on a greater share of health care costs. [C4.]    Bankruptcy Bill Goes to Bush  The House overwhelmingly approved a major overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws, completing Congressional action on the measure and sending it to President Bush for his signature. [C5.]    Atlantic Monthly to Leave Boston  The Atlantic Monthly, a pillar of Boston's intellectual and cultural life since its founding there in 1857, is being moved to Washington, as its owner seeks to control costs and centralize editorial operations. The magazine has been struggling financially, losing $4 million to $8 million a year, although its newsstand sales have increased. [C5.]    Judge Strikes Down Ephedra Ban  A federal judge struck down the Food and Drug Administration's ban on ephedra, the herbal stimulant. [A12.]    Nasdaq Said to Seek Instinet Deal  Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. is in talks to buy Instinet, an institutional trading network, people briefed on the talks said. [C6.]    Two Charged in Food-for-Oil Case  An American oil trader and a Korean lobbyist were charged in connection with the corruption surrounding the United Nations oil-for-food program. [A1.]    A Move to In-Store Prescriptions  Minnesota Blue Cross and Blue Shield said that it was encouraging its members to buy 90-day prescriptions for chronic problems at retail stores in the state, bucking a national trend toward mail order. [C5.]    Polo Issues Warning on Data  The retailer Polo Ralph Lauren said some of its customer credit card data may have been misappropriated. [C6.]    Nestlé Allowed to Merge Top Titles  Nestlé won by a small margin a shareholder vote that allowed it to merge the roles of chief executive and chairman. [C3.]    New Oil Rules in Venezuela  Venezuela said private oil companies with operating contracts would have to convert to joint ventures within six months. [C3.]    Judge Upholds Eli Lilly Patent  A federal judge upheld Eli Lilly's patent on Zyprexa, a treatment for schizophrenia that was among the top-selling drugs in the United States last year, with $2.4 billion in sales. Lilly had sued three generic drug companies to protect its patent. The ruling was issued after the close of regular trading. Lilly shares rose in after-hours trading. [C2.]    Sluggish Quarter for Publishers  The New York Times Company and Dow Jones & Company said that they were hurt by sluggish circulation and weakness in advertising by technology and financial firms during the first quarter. Advertising. [C5.]  

BUSINESS DIGEST

Quiet residential revolution unfolds in Lower Manhattan with thousands of new people, including young families, moving into old and new commercial buildings in last three years, even as government and private sector try to lure business tenants; more than 30,000 New Yorkers live south of Chambers Street, up from some 15,000-20,000 in months before Sept 11 attacks; more than 9,000 office units are now apartments and new residential buildings are going up near World Trade Center, bringing with them gyms, schools, restaurants and Whole Foods Market; baby sitters push $700 strollers in area that is still nation's third-largest commercial district, after Midtown Manhattan and Chicago's Loop; rising residential prices contrast sharply with lagging commercial rents; graph; Regional Plan Assn president Robert D Yaro points out that residents and businesses flourished together in oldest part of New York for three centuries, until monoculture financial center took over in mid-twentieth century (M)

Baby Strollers and Supermarkets Push Into the Financial District

Lenora B. Fulani, an important political ally of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's, has refused to disavow comments attributed to her in the late 1980's saying that Jews ''had to sell their souls to acquire Israel'' and had to ''function as mass murderers of people of color'' to keep it.    Asked about the comments on NY1 News on Wednesday night, Dr. Fulani, a high-profile official with the Independence Party, said, ''What is anti-Semitic about it?'' She added, ''It's raising issues that I think need to be explored.''  

Mayoral Ally Stands By Her Remarks About Israel

Article on winter weekend trip to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, quieter version of sister city, Cabo San Lucas; photos; maps (M)

Experiencing Cabo, Without the Tequila Shots

Elmhurst Hospital Center is not the kind of hospital depicted on most television dramas. Its lobbies, hallways and waiting areas could illustrate an encyclopedia of world attire.    There are men in turbans and women in flowing saris -- and that is just the staff. Patients include Mexican day laborers in dusty work clothes, Sikh cabdrivers with flowing beards and Muslim women in full robes with their faces hidden behind scarves.  

Queens Hospitals Learn Many Ways to Say 'Ah'

Stephen M Cutler, top law enforcement official for Securities and Exchange Commission during one of agency's most tumultuous times, will leave in a month; successor has not yet been chosen; photo (M)

Chief Enforcer at the S.E.C. to Step Down

Article noted on political, if not personal, ties between Pres Bush and House majority leader Tom DeLay

Bush and DeLay

Grand plans that were supposed to carry General Motors and Ford Motor into their second centuries crumble with sales and stock prices as companies continue losing sales to perennial competitors like Toyota and newer rivals like Hyundai; offers of free loans and big rebates are offset by rivals' consistent quality, reliability and intangible appeal; two companies now get third of sales from own employees and families, rental companies and corporate fleets, at razor-thin margins; they have also lost safety net of SUVs and pickup trucks now that Asian makers are entrenched in that market; photo; graphs; both companies occupy 'dreaded middle,' offering neither compelling value nor compelling beauty; they command about 45 percent of domestic market, core profit center, down from 58.4 percent decade ago, despite having acquired European brands like Saab, Volvo and Jaguar; several consumers offer opinions (M)

G.M. and Ford Stuck in Neutral as Buyers Look Beyond Detroit

Article on Distinctive Retreats, two-year-old 'destination club' started by partnership that includes well-known safari outfitter Abercrombie & Kent; members, for refundable fee of $475,000, plus some $15,000 in annual dues, can stay at some 150 dream homes in 35 places around world; destination clubs are newest hybrid in time share and 'fractional ownership' industry; sampling of other destination clubs; photos (M)

A Slice of the Good Life

The new owner of the Plaza Hotel and union workers reached a tentative deal early yesterday to preserve the landmark hotel's Grand Ballroom, Palm Court, Oak Bar and hundreds of guest rooms.    Since January, the union representing 900 workers at the hotel had been locked in a struggle with the owner, Elad Properties, which had sought to convert most of the tired but still elegant 18-story building, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, into condominiums. The plan would have put many employees out of work and closed off the hotel's most famous spaces to the public.  

Accord Is Set to Save Rooms at the Plaza

Issue of testing for and finding methyl tertiary butyl ether in groundwater and paying for cleanup is becoming increasingly contentious; if oil and chemical companies have their way, majority of lawsuits will be thrown out by Congress as part of energy bill backed by Bush administration; bill includes waiver that would protect chemical makers, which are some of biggest oil giants in US, from all MTBE liability lawsuits filed since September 2003; House majority leader, Tom DeLay, and Rep Joe L Barton, who heads Energy and Commerce Committee, are staunch supporters of waiver; both are Republicans from Texas, where more than dozen MTBE manufacturers are based; protection is expected to survive House floor vote, but fight looms in Senate, which blocked passage in 2003 largely because of waiver; map; graph (M)

A Dirty Little Footnote to the Energy Bill

Jon Pareles Critic's Notebook column on globalization of world music as it becomes more accessible than ever before over Internet; samplings of world music albums from several countries and world music concerts in Manhattan; photos (L)

This Is the Sound of Globalization

Reconstruction of April 3, 2003 incident in which US fighter jet hit American artillery in Iraq with 500-pound bomb, shows that cascading chain of errors, poor judgment and miscommunication by US forces stationed in three countries contributed to botched attack; three soldiers died and five were wounded; investigation report obtained by The New York Times was released to families of dead but not to wounded; Specialist Jeff Coyne, who received Purple Heart for injury, says that at award ceremony he was told by superiors to keep quiet about suspicions; he and family of late Sgt Donald S Oaks Jr call for truth to come out; no one was charged or disciplined; Coyne and First Lt John Fernandez, West Point graduate who lost both legs, recall incident and precautions that should have prevented it from happening; photos (M)

A Trail of Pain From a Botched Attack in Iraq in 2003

Federal authorities in New York announce indictment of Houston oil trader David Bay Chalmers Jr and Korean lobbyist Tongsun Park for illegal gains and kickbacks involving UN oil-for-food program during Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq; charge that Chalmers and his company, Bayoil USA, made millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks while trading oil; Park, who was at center of Washington lobbying scandal in 1970's, is charged with getting at least $2 million in secret Iraqi payments as liaison with UN officials; Bayoil is first US company indicted in widening criminal probe; company also charged with conspiring to artificially lower price Iraq got; also alleged is scheme to pay senior UN officials to influence program; Park allegedly lobbied with Iraqi-American businessman Samir Vincent, who pleaded guilty and is cooperating with investigators; US Atty David N Kelley details charges; Vincent also met with unnamed former US official; Chalmers and Ludmil Dionissiev, Bulgarian oil trader, are arrested in Houston; photos; warrant issued for Park, believed to be in South Korea; UN has no comment but Sec Gen Kofi Annan says Iraq made more illicit profits outside UN program, 'on the American and British watch' (M)

TEXAN IS INDICTED IN IRAQ OIL SALES BY HUSSEIN AIDES

Floyd Norris comment on takeover offers by Qwest Communications and Verizon Communications for MCI Inc says both offers include common stock, and there are historical reasons to question whether Qwest shares will prosper; Ohio State Prof Rene M Stulz, whohas done extensive work on mergers, and his colleague, Sara B Moeller of Southern Methodist University, comment; graph (M)

Qwest's High Offer May Show Desperation, but Should MCI Care?

Senate majority leader Bill Frist will join Christian conservatives in telecast portraying Democrats as 'against people of faith' for blocking Pres Bush's judicial nominees; organizer, Family Research Council, will distribute telecast through churches, Internet and Christian media; photo; Frist has until now balanced determination not to yield on nominees with appeals for compromise and distanced himself from House leader Tom DeLay and others attacking courts as too liberal; Frist has threatened to change rules to prevent filibuster; Sen John McCain says he would vote against change and points out that Republicans similarly blocked number of Pres Clinton's nominees; Judiciary Committee votes out appellate nomination of Thomas B Griffith, who Democrats are not blocking (M)

Frist Set to Use Religious Stage on Judicial Issue

The New York Giants will replace their aging stadium with an expanded $750 million complex in the New Jersey Meadowlands under an agreement that Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey said Thursday was ''the best deal for the taxpayers of any stadium deal in the N.F.L.''     The new stadium will have 200 luxury suites -- the current stadium now has 118 -- a major expansion in club seating, new stores, restaurants and practice facilities, which altogether will nearly triple the size of the Giants' site at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, to 75 acres.  

New Jersey Reveals the Details of a New Stadium for the Giants

Anti-Japan demonstrators in Beijing, enraged about Japan's tendentious history textbooks and by territorial disputes in East China Sea, take part in rare legal protest as China taps deep strain of nationalism to help it promote leadership ambitions in Asia; student Sun Wei, one of many herded by police to vent anger before being bused back to campus, concedes protest was part real and part political show; photo; government moves at same time to control nascent protest movement to prevent grass-roots challenge to Communist Party; most serious crisis since diplomatic ties were restored in 1972 erupts over revised Japanese history textbooks that gloss over wartime abuses; China also says outright that Japan does not have moral qualification to become permanent member of UN Security Council, effectively thwarting that ambition; allowing unscripted patriotic sentiment risks stirring up political activity, which leaders fear above all, and discouraging essential foreign investments; new approach faces major test as government juggles visit by Japanese Min Nobutaka Machimura with possible second wave of rallies (M)

April 15, 2005

Headlines from April 15, 2005

Franco Tripped Up by Mets and Spikes

Zombies Get the Munchies, Too

Preaching to Candidates Unconverted

INSIDE

A Touch of Advice Under Their Hats Could Help Yanks

Billboard 200

The Massacre

Guero

The B. Coming

Pleasure & Pain

Now 18

Historical Context for April 15, 2005