February 24, 2006

Fannie Mae Inquiry Finds Earnings Manipulation An internal investigation has found new evidence that senior executives of Fannie Mae manipulated its accounting in the 1990's to meet earnings projections so that top executives could receive bonuses. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 Europeans May Aid Abbas The European Union is considering making payments to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, while trying to maintain pressure on Hamas. PAGE A9 Steam Heat Kelli O'Hara and Harry Connick Jr. star in a lively new revival of ''The Pajama Game.'' A review by Ben Brantley. WEEKEND, PAGE E1 Violence in Nigeria Kills 100 A cycle of bloodshed between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria has pushed the total death toll in the last week beyond 100, making it the hardest-hit country so far in the violence linked to the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published in a Danish newspaper. PAGE A8 Wal-Mart to Expand Benefits Wal-Mart plans to ease several rules on which employees are eligible for benefits, cutting the time that part-time workers have to be employed to qualify for benefits and allowing them to sign their children up for insurance. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 Worker Plan Causes Tension The decision of the service employees' union to champion a guest worker plan alongside the United States Chamber of Commerce, often viewed as an adversary of organized labor, has left some of its allies uneasy. PAGE A14 A Decentralized Flu Plan Each county in New York would be responsible for formulating its own response plan in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza, according to the state's formal preparedness plan. PAGE B1 Jurassic Swimmer Researchers have found a fossil of a mammal -- part beaver, part otter, part platypus -- that lived 164 million years ago. PAGE A6

BEFORE O. J. Simpson, there was Jean Harris. Before the South Beach Diet, there was ''The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.'' On March 10, 1980, the headmistress of a fancy girls' school in Virginia drove to Purchase, N.Y., and shot and killed her lover. And no celebrity trial since then has matched that scandal -- nothing trumps a woman scorned by a philandering diet doctor.

FOR 137 years Mohonk Mountain House, a resort blending rustic simplicity and Victorian-era formality on the outskirts of New Paltz, N.Y., has stood for timeless pleasures. Still run by the same Quaker family that founded it, Mohonk clings to tradition. Rooms are large and comfortable, but devoid of television sets, radios -- even clocks. Jackets are required for men at dinner. On summer Sundays, there is a nondenominational worship service in the Parlor, while every day at 4 p.m., guests gather for tea and cookies in the Lake Lounge. Guests are encouraged to get out and explore the remarkable natural setting, snowshoeing along the Shawangunk Ridge in winter or plunging into the bracing waters of Lake Mohonk in summer. Organized activities and entertainment are often highbrow and always wholesome: from square dancing to classical music.

Russia men's hockey team prepares to face Finland in Olympic semifinals; photo (M)

ASK a local for the address of a restaurant or store in St. John, the smallest, least developed and most beautiful of the three major United States Virgin Islands, and you'll probably get a blank stare. Even asking for the name of a road can leave St. Johnians scratching their heads. There are practically no street signs, but that's O.K. because St. John -- about nine miles long and five miles wide -- is easy to get around. Everyone knows everyone and where everything is.