December 21, 2005

With Ralph Fiennes and three Redgraves aboard, you couldn't ask for a tonier cast than the one that gamely tries to pump oxygen into the thin, filtered air of ''The White Countess.'' The final collaboration between the director James Ivory and his longtime partner, the producer Ismail Merchant, who died during post-production, the movie, set in Shanghai in 1936 and 1937, is one of their most ambitious projects. But with its tentative pace, fussy, pieced-together structure and stuffy emotional climate, ''The White Countess'' never develops any narrative stamina.

Profile of and interview with Ricardo Legorreta, Mexico's best known architect; Legorreta is currently working on Plaza Juarez in Mexico City, complex that will house Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Relations; retrospective of Legorreta's work is on display at Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso; photo (M)

Juliet Macur In Two Arenas-

New York Giants sign linebacker Roman Phifer, who won Super Bowl with New England Patriots in 2001 (M)

Federal prosecutors announced that Joseph P. Nacchio had been indicted on charges of insider trading.

IT'S early morning on a marshy stretch of water that runs east from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. Ray Brandhurst, who has known nothing but the Louisiana shrimping life, is three cans of iced tea and a dozen Kools into his day. On the rear deck of the 50-foot shrimp boat he built by hand -- a boat that Hurricane Katrina sent halfway to the bottom of Bayou Bienvenue -- Mr. Brandhurst jerks a line securing a green mesh net.

Electronic Arts says holiday sales of its video games will be 'well below' earlier projections, latest sign of sharp slide in performance of industry; analysts blame confluence of factors for industry's slide, but say main reason is that Microsoft Corp created huge demand for its Xbox 360 game console through heavy marketing, but did not make enough machines to satisfy demand; say consumers are thus waiting to buy Xbox 360's and, in turn, passing up purchases of games for previous generation of video game consoles, like original Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2; NPD, market research company, has reported that domestic video game sales were $700 million in November, down from $850 million in November 2004; photo (M)

China's announcement that its gross domestic product in 2004 was nearly $2 trillion, not $1.65 trillion previously reported, forces economists nd financial prognosticators to rethink their assessment of China's rise and its role on world stage; new figures suggest that China has today passed France, Italy and Britain to become world's fourth-largest economy after US, Japan and Germany; economists say figures also suggest that China's economy is healthier, more diversified and more sustainable than they previously believed (M)

Federal Judge John E Jones III issues broad, stinging rebuke to Dover, Pa, school board that tried to present 'intelligent design' as alternative to high school biology, calling it religious viewpoint that advances 'particular version of Christianity' in public schools in violation of Constitution; excoriates school board members for 'breathtaking inanity,' lying to cover up religious motives and dragging community into legal maelstorm that has been 'utter waste' of money and resources; 11 parents sued over requiring teachers to tell ninth-grade to examine intelligent design as alternative to evolution; judge, Republican appointed by Pres Bush, says imperfections in Darwin's theory should not be pretext for thrusting untestable hypothesis grounded in religion into science classroom; calls intelligent design 'creationism relabeled' after Supreme Court barred its teaching as science in public schools; ruling is legally binding only in middle district of Pennsylvania but will likely not be appealed because school board was ousted by slate opposed to policy; photos (M)

National Security Agency surveillance program approved by Pres Bush to conduct eavesdropping without warrants has captured purely domestic communications on some occasions, apparently accidentally, despite requirement that one end of conversation take place on foreign soil; issue points up troubling logistical questions, such as determining where callers or e-mail senders are; Bush, intelligence official Gen Michael V Hayden and Atty Gen Alberto Gonzales have emphasized that secret program only applies to international communications; administration has not released guidelines used to determine targets with suspected Al Qaeda links; questions about legality have led to temporary suspensions and secret audit; judge who oversees secret court that authorizes intelligence warrants, which has largely been bypassed, also raised concerns (M)

New York Yankees sign former Boston Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon to $52 million, four-year contract; photos (M)

Toyota plans to increase worldwide car production by 10 percent in 2006, to 9.06 million, putting it in tight battle with General Motors for title of world's biggest carmaker; even if GM retains title in 2006, industry already views Toyota as premier automaker, flush with cash and posting steady increase in sales in US, Europe and parts of Asia during past decade; GM shares fall $1.20, to $19.85, lowest level since stock market crash in 1987, on Toyota's announcement and word that Kirk Kerkorian has sold 12 million shares of his GM stock; graphs; photos (M)