May 6, 2005

Alessandra Stanley reviews CBS four-hour mini-series Elvis, directed by James Sadwith and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Randy Quaid, Camryn Manheim and Antonia Bernath; photos (M)

Prime Min Tony Blair of Britain wins record-setting third successive term, but with much reduced majority reflecting his unpopularity over war in Iraq; margin is his lowest since first leading Labor Party to power in 1997; disappointing results may speed his transfer of power to his heir apparent, Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown; nearly final results show that Blair's majority in Parliament will fall from current 160 to around 66; Conservatives under Michael Howard win 200 seats, and smaller Liberal Democrats are projected to secure almost 60; Labor notes this is first time since party was formed in 1900 that it secured third successive term; Blair, who was bruised by criticism over war and labeled untrustworthy by some traditional followers, concedes that Iraq has been divisive issue in country; photos; chart (M)

Two crude yet powerful explosive devices went off outside an office building on Third Avenue in Manhattan early yesterday, injuring no one but damaging a planter, shattering windows and prompting a large force of police officers to halt traffic on several blocks. Because the British Consulate is in the building and yesterday was Election Day in Britain, the blasts, which occurred at 3:55 a.m., had brief but wide-ranging effects.

IN the conspicuously puzzling absence of George Steinbrenner, may we present another prominent New York Boss, who also has an entry in tomorrow's Kentucky Derby, employs Nick Zito as his trainer and counts himself among the legions of Yankees fans wondering if his team is turning into an old plow horse before his eyes. The book on Leonard Riggio, the Barnes & Noble chairman, is that he grew up in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, 84th St. and 16th Ave., rooting not for the Dodgers but for Mickey, Whitey and especially Yogi after sitting in Ebbets Field the day Berra clouted a pair of two-run home runs off Don Newcombe in Game 7 of the 1956 World Series.

IBM's cuts of 10,000 to 13,000 jobs will fall heaviest on Germany, France, Britain and Italy, where costs are high and growth prospects have recently been dimmed; IBM's European division, which is based in Paris and also covers Africa and Middle East, employs 100,000 people; chief financial officer Mark Loughridge says IBM wants to 'rebalance' its investment from low-growth to high-growth areas; public reaction to IBM's cuts is muted in Germany, partly because offices and stock markets are closed in France, Germany and other countries in observance of Ascension Day; IBM's move is likely to deepen fears that Europe is losing its competitiveness as place for business; IBM is shutting several of its smaller sites in Germany and consolidating at service centers in Hungary and Czech Republic, among other countries; photos (M)