April 16, 2005

It was an afternoon of starkly different moods at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. It began in somber quiet with the national flags over center court flapping gently at half-staff and with the footpaths and buffet tables of the club close to empty. Employees and early-arriving spectators gathered around television sets to watch the funeral of Prince Rainier III.

Viacom's chief executive Sumner M Redstone and co-presidents Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves received total compensation in 2004 valued at about $52 million to $56 million each insalary, bonus and stock options, for total of about $160 million; compensation specialist Brian Foley says compensation is beyond breathtaking, and it dwarfs what their competitors are earning; Viacom spokesman Carl Folta says overall compensation was based on operating performance of company, and that was excellent in 2004; adds compensation was not based on stock price, which declined 18 percent in 2004; chart (M)

Dance Troupe Stretches for Hope in Colombia The young members of a contemporary dance troupe, including many who live in a shantytown, bring avant-garde culture to socially conservative Cartagena, Colombia. THE ARTS, PAGE B7 Big Payout at Viacom Viacom's top three executives received total 2004 compensation valued at $52 million to $56 million each, while shares of the media company fell 18 percent. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 Stadium Fight, in 7,000 Pages Environmental impact statements -- like the 7,312-page report on the stadium proposed by the Jets for the West Side of Manhattan -- have become weapons of choice in New York for those seeking to derail developments, or to stall them until market conditions turn unfavorable. PAGE B1 For Italians, a Need To Regain the Papacy For 455 years, the papacy passed uninterrupted from one Italian to another, until the election of the Polish pope, John Paul II. Now, after 26 years, many Italians think it is time to get back in office -- for fear that changes in the Roman Catholic Church may close the door on them for good. As cardinals from 52 countries prepare to select the next pope, some Vatican historians believe that the election of another foreigner would conclude a historic shift of power away from Italy. According to this school of thought, the papacy needs to mirror Catholicism's growth in the Southern Hemisphere. PAGE A3 Marriage Advice Behind Bars Oklahoma state officials are allowing prison inmates in good standing, including some serving life sentences, to take part in a six-part course on maintaining a healthy marriage. The unlikely program stems from the state's six-year effort to bolster wedded bliss. In small workshops, the inmates discuss issues like money and sex that often underlie marital disputes. PAGE A10 Reaching India via Pakistan The decision by the United States to sell 24 jet fighters to Pakistan has also opened up the Indian market, meaning American contractors now have the chance to sell up to 126 fighters --at $35 million each -- to a country with an aging fleet of 800 jets, none of them made in America. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE B1

About New York column on John Grossi, Staten Island homeowner who painted graffiti over his 19th-century house after Landmarks Preservation Commission prohibited him from demolishing it because it was being considered for designation as city landmark (M)

Energy bill that was recently approved by House committee contains provision that would allow communities whose air pollution comes from hundreds of miles away to delay meeting national air quality standards until their offending neighbors clean up their own air; it would be one of most significant changes to Clean Air Act in 15 years if it becomes law; provision could especially affect states like New York and other Northeastern states that have always had difficulty meeting federal standards for ozone, leading cause of smog, because much of pollution originates in states to south and west; Rep Joe L Barton is provision's author (M)