January 3, 2006

Just four years ago, Argentina's economy was prostrate and its politics in chaos, after a financial crisis resulted in bank deposits being frozen, the government defaulting on more than $100 billion in debt and five presidents holding office in two weeks. But on Tuesday, the country is expected to pay off the last of its debt to the International Monetary Fund and simply walk away from further negotiations with the group. Argentina still owes tens of billions to private lenders, even after a debt restructuring in March. But the $9.8 billion payment is an important symbolic milestone and just one of several recent signs that President Néstor Kirchner appears to be concentrating more power in his own hands and steering his government to the left. Since a midterm election victory in October, Mr. Kirchner has also moved to establish an alliance with Venezuela's populist leader, Hugo Chávez, and, as a traditional Peronist, to extend the hand of the state deeper into the economy, the judiciary and the news media.

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses parallel but vastly different careers of New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury and Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash (M)

Facing cuts in antiterrorism financing, the Department of Homeland Security plans to announce today that it will evaluate new requests for money from an $800 million aid program for cities based less on politics and more on assessments of where terrorists are likely to strike and potentially cause the greatest damage, department officials say. The changes to the program, the Urban Area Security Initiative, are being driven in part by a reduction in the overall pool of money for antiterrorism efforts. For 2006, Congress has appropriated $120 million less in these urban grants than for 2005.

X-ray technicians William M Cox and Gene R Pesola describe image of 73-year-old Inuit woman's appendix filled with buckshot; findings, which are published in New England Journal of Medicine, explain that she had likely ingested buckshot from local game over period of years; photo (M)

Imre Kertesz, Holocaust survivor, has written screenplay for his novel Fateless, which is based on his experiences in concentration camp as teenager; movie is not chronicle of Holocaust, but rather coming-of age story set amid Holocaust; costing $13 million, Fateless is most expensive Hungarian film ever made, as well as year's most successful Hungarian film and country's entry for best foreign language film at 2006 Academy Awards; photos (M)

Dr Shannon Lee Dawdy, University of Chicago anthropology professor, discusses her role as Federal Emergency Management Agency liaison to Louisiana's historic preservation office; work at Holt cemetery, final resting place for New Orleans poor where scores of people come to leave mementos and decorate graves, discussed as culturally important site for restoration; photos (M)

Scientists who study evolution of visual signaling identify behaviors and features that exemplify what is cute; utilizing cute images has been found to be both persuasive and disarming; Dr Sonia A Duffy of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at University of Michigan leads study that finds anti-smoking messages with cute cartoon characters are more persuasive to young viewers than those without cute elements; research is published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine; photos (L)

There is a small cafe on Morris Park Avenue in the Bronx where Albanian soap operas play on a large-screen television set. It is the Cafe Roma, and an uneasy quiet hangs in the air. The cigarette smoke is thick, and stacks of playing cards lie unused on the bar. The bartender, a sallow giant with a mustache, plays chess between serving espressos and sugar-sweetened snacks. The bartender will not talk about it, but the authorities say the Cafe Roma was the headquarters of the Corporation, a violent, up-and-coming gang that had a bold objective: to become New York's sixth crime family, one headed not by Italian-Americans but by Albanian immigrants.

Carolina Panthers prepare to face New York Giants in first round of playoffs (M).

JOHN LITHGOW must have been reading my mind. ''Why me?'' he asked at the City Hall inauguration ceremony on Sunday for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the other two citywide officials. I had been asking myself the same question. Of all the people to pick as M.C. for this show, why him?

New York Knicks defeat Phoenix Suns, 140-133, in triple overtime; photos (M)1

10 Die in Snowy Collapse Of Ice Rink in Germany The roof of a rink where many children were ice-skating collapsed in Bad Reichenhall, a Bavarian resort in southern Germany, killing at least 10 people, a spokesman for the town council reported. The chief of police in nearby Traunstein said some people were missing and were feared trapped. The region had 12 inches of snow overnight. PAGE A8 Battle Over Alito Heats Up With Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s Supreme Court confirmation hearings set for next Monday, partisans are pulling out the stops in an effort to sway public opinion. PAGE A14 He's Just So Cute Judging by the oohs and aahs from the crowds at the National Zoo, the giant panda cub Tai Shan just might have been the cutest thing on earth last year. Scientists take a look at cuteness, its characteristics and the reactions it generates in humans. SCIENCE TIMES, PAGE F1 Mixed Start for Drug Plan Some beneficiaries were pleasantly surprised while others were frustrated as the new Medicare prescription drug benefit got off to an uneven start this week. PAGE A12 Ohio State Tops Notre Dame The Buckeyes raced past the Fighting Irish, 34-20, in the Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame's eighth consecutive bowl loss. Florida and Alabama also won. SPORTSTUESDAY, PAGE D1 Four N.F.L. Coaches Fired A day after the regular season ended, the Texans, the Packers, the Rams and the Saints dismissed their coaches. SPORTSTUESDAY, PAGE D1