December 24, 2005

William C Rhoden Sports o

New York Knicks defeat Utah Jazz, 98-90; photo (M)9

Funerals of organized crime bosses have often been spectacles, but Vincent Gigante, one of leading crime figures of 20th century, is buried largely with anonymity he sought in life; Gigante was throwback to earlier era of low-key mob chieftains; service is held in church near Greenwich Village tenement where he grew up and attended by family and friends from tightly knit neighborhood; few mob figures attend; profile; photo (M)

New York Yankees officially introduce new center fielder Johnny Damon; photo (M)l

Perhaps no city in America has buried more hometown department stores than this one. First it was Lansburgh's in 1972, then S. Kann Sons in 1975, Garfinckel's in 1990 and Woodward & Lothrop in 1995. Each closing, from bankruptcy or buyout, brought more grief than the last. So now, with Washington's last local department store, the Hecht Company, set to disappear after Christmas, what kind of public outpouring can be expected?

The National Security Agency has traced and analyzed large volumes of telephone and Internet communications flowing into and out of the United States as part of the eavesdropping program that President Bush approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to hunt for evidence of terrorist activity, according to current and former government officials. The volume of information harvested from telecommunication data and voice networks, without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the officials said. It was collected by tapping directly into some of the American telecommunication system's main arteries, they said.

Dr. Hwang Woo Suk, the South Korean scientist whose research on stem cells and cloning propelled him to international stardom, resigned from his university on Friday, after an investigative panel there reported earlier in the day that he had fabricated the paper in which he claimed to have created stem cell colonies from 11 patients. The South Korean government, which had vigorously promoted Dr. Hwang as the symbol of its drive to carve out a niche in biotechnology, admitted to ''crushing misery'' and said it planned to halt research funds for the 53-year-old scientist.

For nearly a decade, Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, has been dismissed by his critics as little more than an angry man with a microphone, a lonely figure who rails against immigration and battles his own president and party. So radical were his proposals -- calling for a fence along the United States border with Canada, for instance -- and so fierce were his attacks on fellow Republicans who did not share his views that many of his colleagues tried to avoid him. Mr. Tancredo said Karl Rove, President Bush's senior adviser, had told him not ''to darken the doorstep of the White House.''

Get ready for the Christmas shopping frenzy all over again. Many retailers, fearing that today's last-minute buying spree will fail to make up for ho-hum sales growth this season, are looking past the holiday weekend and planning an aggressive Monday marketing blitz.

Woodbury Common in Woodbury, NY, nation's largest outlet center, has become magnet for sophisticated shoplifters, counterfeiters and credit-card swindlers, and local police department has responded by turning itself into anti-theft SWAT team; officers are equipped with latest electronic crime-fighting tools, some acquired with funds supplied by mall's owner; retail security specialists from across country seek out department's know-how, and its officers conduct frequent crime-prevention seminars at mall; Sgt Clifford Weeks, former New York City police officer who runs Woodbury department's mall patrols, comments; photos (M)

A Chinese researcher for The New York Times was indicted Friday on charges of disclosing state secrets to the newspaper and on a lesser charge of fraud, a move that should send the case to trial within six weeks, his lawyer said. The researcher, Zhao Yan, 43, who worked in the paper's Beijing bureau, has spent 15 months in prison without a hearing. The formal indictment is significant because such a move on charges relating to state secrets is usually tantamount to conviction in China.

U.N. Adopts a Budget, Avoiding a Fiscal Crisis The United Nations averted a financial crisis in a compromise that met wealthy nations' demands for basic management changes. Approval of the $3.8 billion, two-year budget emerged when the developing nations and China agreed to a proposal put forward by the United States, Japan and others. PAGE A10 Death of a Department Store Washington's last local department store, Hecht's, will vanish after Christmas, replaced by Macy's. Regional stores like Hecht's have struggled for relevance and profits for decades. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 School in Sports Case to Shut University High School, a correspondence school in Miami accused of giving high grades to help high school athletes, is going out of business Dec. 31, its founder says. SPORTSSATURDAY, PAGE D1 Alive and Kicking There is one thing that consistently saves the Rockettes from becoming a pawn in Radio City Music Hall's promotion blitz: the glory of their dancing. A Critic's Notebook. THE ARTS, PAGE B9 THIS WEEKEND The Lives They Lived The magazine's annual look at some well-known (Luther Vandross, Rose Mary Woods, Sandra Dee) and otherwise notable people who died in the last year. MAGAZINE The Year in Culture Critics recall highs (dream stage teams), lows (an antiquities scandal) and mixed verdicts (good films, poor business). ARTS & LEISURE Battle Zone of Faith Three books bring discussions of prayer, pluralism and reason to the nation's debate over religion. BOOK REVIEW