October 7, 2005

Manohla Dargis reviews movie In Her Shoes, directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz; photos (M)

Drug trials for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' influenza drug peramivir, which failed trials three years ago, may be resurrected amid growing fears of global bird flu pandemic; scientists using government funds are already testing drug in animals, this time in form that is given intravenously or injected; BioCryst chief executive Charles E Bugg says although drug is nowhere near formal approval by FDA, it could be quickly manufactured on emergency basis for government stockpiles; experts say that previous inattention to flu drugs has world facing potential shortage that could leave millions of people dead if avian flu were to break out in next year or two; flu drugs on market, Tamiflu from Roche and Relenza from GlaxoSmithKline, are in intense demand by governments building stockpiles against possible bird flu pandemic; neither company is in position to come close to meeting global demand for their drugs; Japan's Sankyo has developed advanced version of Relenza that does not go beyond early clinical trials but that now, in part with money from US government, is being studied as possible avian flu treatment; photo (M)

Eddy Curry, still a heart patient but not yet a Knick in good standing, was sitting Thursday morning, intently watching his would-be teammates run fast-break drills in a College of Charleston gymnasium. Dressed in black warm-up gear and white sneakers, and accompanied by his trainer, Tim Grover, Curry was no more than a spectator in a baseline seat -- albeit the largest spectator in the gym, and certainly the most scrutinized.

In an extraordinary rebuke to Gov. George E. Pataki, members of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board took turns yesterday in deploring his decision to bar the International Freedom Center museum from the memorial area of ground zero last week while the matter was pending before them. Led by the chairman, John C. Whitehead, whom Mr. Pataki appointed, board members also despaired that the governor's sudden interruption of a long planning process would jeopardize their future effectiveness in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.

Counterterrorism forces in Indonesia said the suspected suicide bombers who carried out the attack in Bali last Saturday appear to have been a small group with no prior criminal record or link to a large organization like Al Qaeda. The heads of the presumed bombers were severed in the blast, and pictures of them were distributed widely. Article, Page A3.

CHURCH bells were pealing all over Brooklyn. That's what I remember from the afternoon of Oct. 4, 1955. It was a grand day to be in the borough of Brooklyn. I was playing a different sport that afternoon: soccer, for Jamaica High School, against either Bushwick or Brooklyn Automotive, I forget which. People were listening to the Dodgers game on rudimentary portable radios, and when Gil Hodges scooped up Pee Wee Reese's throw for the final out up in the Bronx, you could hear the bustle all over the borough: horns honking, people cheering, bells ringing. Next Year had finally arrived.

Organs transplanted from a single donor in New York City infected three people with West Nile virus, leaving two of them comatose for weeks, health officials said yesterday. This is only the second known case in the United States of the virus's being transmitted by organ transplant.

Article on autumn tour of Vermont in search of artisanal, farmhouse and organic cheese, which has become growth industry; 35 cheesemakers across state produce roughly 17 million pounds of specialty cheese and nearly half of them welcome visitors; map; photos (M)

Federal Emergency Management Agency will seek new bids on $400 million worth of contracts that had originally been awarded with no competition in Hurricane Katrina recovery effort; R David Paulison, agency's acting director, tells Senate panel of move, responding to sharp criticism after FEMA suspended normal contracting rules in frantic first days of trying to help storm victims and rebuild Gulf Coast; he does not indicate that agency found anything inappropriate in contract awards, but appears to agree with critics who warned that awarding contracts without bids could result in abuse and waste; four contracts up for rebidding were awarded to Shaw Group, Fluor Corp, Bechtel National and CH2M Hill; four have long records of work for federal government, and some have executives or lobbyists with close ties to Bush administration; photo (M)

Pres Bush says United States and its partners have disrupted 10 serious terrorist plots since 9/11 attacks; White House produces list hours after Bush's speech, including some previously known cases; most significant disclosure is of failed effort in 2002 to use hijacked airplanes to attack 'targets on the West Coast'; counterterrorism officials say plan was led by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of 9/11 attacks who was captured in Pakistan in 2003; Bush's speech, delivered before National Endowment for Democracy, comes on day of major terror alert involving possible bombing threat in New York subways, and as senior government officials describe warning from one senior Al Qaeda leader to another that attacks on civilians and videotaped executions committed by his followers could jeopardize their broader cause; Bush uses speech to warn that Syria and Iran have become 'allies of convenience' for Islamic terror groups (M)

Republican Sam Brownback, one of most ardent abortion opponents in Senate, says he may not vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Harriet E Miers, even if Pres Bush makes personal plea for his support; says Miers steered clear of discussing Roe v Wade in their hourlong meeting and did little to assure him that she would be open to revisiting or overturning that case; Brownback is important because it would be embarrassment to Bush if Republican on Senate Judiciary Committee voted against Miers; also, he is considered leading voice for conservatives in Senate and possible presidential candidate in 2008; should he vote against Miers, other Republicans contemplating White House bids could feel compelled to follow; photo (M)

Against the backdrop of reports of a new terrorist threat to New York City, the mayoral debate at the Apollo Theater in Harlem last night abounded in attacks on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and his decision not to participate, even as voters seemed sure to be focusing on his warnings about security. The debate itself, the first televised head-to-head of the general election, was a mild affair, thanks to the lack of the leading candidate, Mr. Bloomberg. The Democratic nominee, Fernando Ferrer, made his standard case about improving education and the city's housing stock, while turning repeatedly to the lectern meant for the mayor and chiding him for staying away.