September 19, 2005

Representatives of OPEC say they are prepared to increase their oil production ceiling by under 2 percent, but warn that high oil prices are caused by refinery shortfalls, which are beyond their control and have been worsened after Hurricane Katrina disabled four major refineries along Gulf of Mexico; are also discussing alternative proposal of releasing two million barrels a day of production it currently holds as spare capacity, saying move would send strong signal that OPEC has untapped reserved to meet demand; group's current ceiling is 28 million barrels a day, and actual production is closer to 28.2 million barrels a day; photos (M)

Incumbent Gerhard Schroder and challenger Angela Merkel both claim mandate to govern as chancellor after German electorate fails to give any party or candidate clear majority; results give Merkel's right-of-center Christian Democratic Union highest vote total, about 35.2 percent, not enough to win absolute majority in Parliament with its main coalition partner, pro-business Free Democratic Party; Schroder's Social Democratic Party gets 34.3 percent, losing slender majority in Parliament it has had with its partner, Greens, which has enabled Schroder to govern for seven years; given deeply divided vote, next days and weeks will be taken up by intense negotiations among country's political parties seeking to forge coalition that will give one of candidates parliamentary majority needed to become chancellor; photos (M)

String of suicide bombings, all aimed at Shiites, brings new vulnerability and dysfunction to streets of Baghdad; three of four main roads leading in and out of one neighborhood are closed and Shiites there stay home, afraid to venture out; violance has also reinforced new reality of war there: that Shiites are paying highest price in blood of any group in Iraq; insurgents have pointedly shifted their focus away from American service members and toward killing Shiite civilians, with attacks on mosques, markets and populated areas rising sharply since spring; threat of further massacres sharpened when architect of much of killing, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, declared 'full-scale war on Shiites all over Iraq'; country has not slid into open civil war, mainly because vast majority of Shiites refuse to be drawn into the killing, adhering to commands of their religious leaders; as insurgency grows more deadly, question is whether their historic tolerance for suffering will hold; photos (M)

Rapper Lil' Kim goes to prison to serve 366-day sentence for perjury conviction; spends last few days before reporting to jail promoting new album, hobnobbing with celebrities and recording footage for proposed television reality series; photo (M)

ABC dramatic series Lost and CBS comedy Everybody Loves Raymond, which ended nine-year run in May, win top honors at 57th Emmy Awards; Patricia Arquette wins best actress in drama series for Medium, and Tony Shalhoub wins his second award as best actor in comedy series for Monk; James Spader and William Shatner win best actor and best supporting actor awards for their roles in Boston Public, second award for both men; Felicity Huffman wins best actress in comedy series for Desperate Housewives; other winners noted; photos (M)