November 8, 2005

Perhaps this is how the dynasty ebbs, with a once-vanquished opponent staging a stand-and-deliver performance, with the dominant team supplanted by a newly balanced rival. On Monday night, the Indianapolis Colts finally threw off the burden that had grown especially heavy in the past two seasons, as the Patriots had beaten them in the regular season and postseason on their way to two consecutive Super Bowl championships.

Supreme Court will decide validity of military commissions Pres Bush wants to use to bring detainees charged with terrorist offenses to trial, putting highest court back at center of national debate over limits of presidential authority in conducting war on terrorism; Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr recuses himself; last year court rejected administration's position that federal courts have no jurisdiction over those held as enemy combatants at United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay; administration had urged court to defer any review until after trial by military commission of detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who is described by government as Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard and driver; Hamdan's lawyers argue that issues of domestic and international law raised by his case are sufficiently important to be heard and resolved without further delay; they claim that Pres Bush has neither statutory authorization nor inherent authority to establish military commissions that, as defined in Bush's order, violate Third Geneva Convention by withholding protections that defendants are guaranteed in courts-martial; Hamdan is charged with conspiracy, murder and terrorism; he was captured in Afghanistan in 2001; chronological chart dating to establishment of detention center at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 (M)

Mayor Michael R Bloomberg, in search of historic victory, hits each borough twice on last day of his re-election campaign while his Democratic challenger Fernando Ferrer concentrates on avoiding embarrassing defeat; Ferrer, who is 38 points behind in new poll, implores black voters to cast their ballots; he is joined by Rev Al Sharpton and then by Sen Barack Obama, only black US senator; Bloomberg pleads with supporters to avoid overconfidence and put voting on their to-do list; photos (M)

A 1-year-old Brooklyn boy died after his mother left him and his 3-year-old half-brother in a bathtub on Sunday night, six months after she pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of the older boy, the authorities said yesterday. The city's Administration for Children's Services, which recently returned custody of both children to their mother, said yesterday that it was investigating.

Public-access television advocates are concerned over legislation that may change how telecommunications industry is regulated; municipalities had been given ability in 1972 to negotiate franchise agreements for cable television, which pay for public-access programs; several bills would allow more videoservices competition, easing way for telephone companies to compete for franchises, and minimize regulations for franchises (M)

FBI says losses from organized retail theft have reached as much as $30 billion; retailers are coordinating efforts to combat organized gangs; major retailers ranging from Gap and Sears to Walgreens and Wal-Mart are quietly developing national crime databases to compile evidence from shoplifting incidents; one such database will begin operating this month; industry is hoping that information will help federal investigators build legal cases against suspected theft rings; three retailing industry trade groups are building databases; one is National Retail Federation, which represents thousands of chains from Federated Department Stores to Crate & Barrel, whose database goes on line this month; another is Retail Industry Leaders Association, which focuses on discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Target; National Association of Chain Drug Stores started its database last year; Ghali organization, run by Mohammed Ghali who was sentenced to 14 years in jail for leading organized shopping gang, is biggest operator of organized shoplifting; over-the-counter drugs and infant formula are among items most frequently stolen by organized crime rings; photos (M)

Guidant Corp files federal lawsuit to force Johnson & Johnson to complete its $25.4 billion acquisition of company; Johnson & Johnson contends that deal for Guidant is void because of Guidant's financial and legal problems; Guidant says third quarter profit fell 57 percent because of series of recent recalls of its devices; warns fourth-quarter results are likely to be lower than last year's; some industry analysts believe new deal could still be struck at lower price; Guidant also discloses that Securities and Exchange Commission opened formal formal probe into timing of company disclosures also about problem heart devices and trading in company stock; consortium of state attorneys general has requested Guidant records to determine if it might have violated state laws in connection with device sales; company is already under investigation by Food and Drug Administration and Justice Department in connection with its handling of product safety issues; Guidant says third-quarter profit fell to $65.4 million from $153.6 million year earlier; revenue dropped to $795 million, from $924.5 million; graph (M)

The Philadelphia Eagles extended the suspension of the star receiver Terrell Owens by three games Monday and said he would no longer play for the team, a move that may lead to a cohesive locker room but that could cost them a chance to return to the Super Bowl. Apparently, the Eagles reached the conclusion that Owens had become such a bad influence that ridding the team of his corrosive personality was preferable to keeping his bountiful talent in the lineup.

Pentagon issues new policy directive governing interrogations as part of effort to tighten controls over questioning of terror suspects and other prisoners by American soldiers; Acting Deputy Defense Sec Gordon R England signs eight-page directive; Army can now issue long-delayed field manual for interrogators that is supposed to incorporate lessons gleaned from prisoner-abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere last year; Army seeks to ensure that interrogation techniques are approved, up to highest levels in Pentagon, that interrogators are properly trained and that personnel in field are required to report any abuses; changes reflect continuing problems with abuses by troops in Afghanistan and Iraq since Abu Ghraib scandal; Senate has approved Sen John McCain's measure to ban abusive treatment of prisoners in American custody; second directive, governing all aspects of prisoner detentions, is causing sharp debate within Bush administration over whether Pentagon's broad guidelines on detention should include language from Geneva Conventions barring use of 'cruel,' 'humiliating' and degrading treatment, as included in McCain's measure; photos (M)

New Orleans is caught in cycle of uncertainty about its future, more than two months after being incapacitated by Hurricane Katrina; each major decision relies on another decision that has to be made first; many residents and business owners will not return and invest without assurance of flood protection, but workers who could rebuild levees and much of rest of city are hampered by lack of housing; construction of new houses, and rebuilding of damaged ones, is stymied by high cost, empty treasury of local government and debate over how to maintain city's political and demographic base; Pres Bush asked Congress for $1.6 billion for repair of levees and wetlands, and another $4.6 million to study possibility of levee upgrade; that was immeditately criticized as wholly inadequate by members of state's Congressional delegation; photos (M)

French government seeks to reassure jittery nation as civil unrest spreads to nearly every major city and claims its first death; Prime Min Dominique de Villepin calls up 1,500 police reserves to reinforce 8,000 police officers already waging nightly battles in streets and says some towns would impose curfews to keep marauding youths off streets; rules out for now sending army into suburbs where unrest has grown among African immigrants; government seeks to avoid aggressive tactics for fear of sparking incident that could further escalate violence; France has been slow to react to spreading violence set off by accidential deaths of two youths on Oct 27, in part because initial nights of unrest did not seem particularly unusual in country where more than 80 cars day are set on fire, even before violence; government appeared paralyzed as violence spiraled into worst civil unrest country has faced in 40 years; Pres Jacques Chirac did not speak publicly about matter until 11th day of evolving crisis; Europe is watching unfolding crisis with alarm, fearing copycat attacks; photos; map (M)

Five children in Amish communities in Minnesota are found to have polio, disease that was pronounced dead in Western Hemisphere years ago; how polio came to dairy farming community of 24 families, with 19th-century ways that include deep-rooted suspicion of vaccination, is medical whodunit and cautionary tale; eradicating polio may prove far harder than anyone thought, even in developed world; vaccination rates in United States are at historic highs, but increasing number of parents are resisting inoculations for their children, fearing they may cause disorders; scientists have almost universally discounted that possibility; Amish law does not forbid vaccination, but many Amish believe vaccines weaken immune system; description of how disease was discovered in first Amish child; photos (M)