A top U.N. official was scheduled to arrive in Tehran today to make another appeal for Iran to halt its enrichment program.

Iran Says It Is Making Nuclear Fuel, Defying U.N.

The prime minister challenged his opponent's wisp of a victory, suggesting a recount, or a German-style grand coalition government.

Berlusconi Says He Will Contest Italy Vote Tally

New York City will give grades from A to F each year and principals at failing schools could be removed.

Principals Face Review in Education Overhaul

Ethnic ancestry tests are spurring a thorough exploration of the question, What is in it for me?

Seeking Ancestry in DNA Ties Uncovered by Tests

Center for Science in the Public Interest, nutrition advocacy group, is leading campaign against palm oil, claiming that it is not healthy fat alternative and that demand for palm oil is destroying habitat for orangutans in Indonesian jungle; Newman's Own, food company that was started by actor Paul Newman and donates profits to charities, has been target of advocacy group's protest, despite acknowledgement by both parties that palm oil harvested for Newman's Own products does not endanger animals; various oils and fats used in food production and their nutritional aspects discussed; photos (M)

Fat Fight Becomes a Rumble in the Jungle

Several deaf-theater groups are struggling to stay afloat after federal government cuts funds for cultural programs for deaf around country; National Theater for the Deaf in West Hartford, Conn, and Deaf West Theater Company in North Hollywood, Calif, are two organizations that must struggle with absence of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money that they had received yearly from government; photos (M)

Deaf Theater Troupes Reel From Federal Cuts

State Senator Ada L Smith pleads not guilty to assault charge levied by former aide Jennifer C Jackson; holds that Jackson was reprimanded for inappropriate behavior and quit; says that she did not throw cup of coffee at alleged victim; photo (M)

Tea Bags in Hand, Senator Says Coffee Never Flew

TO a lot of thoughtful people, the only way to fix the health insurance crisis is to get the federal government to cover everyone. Britain, Canada, Japan and a number of other rich countries do so, and they each spend less money on health care than this country does. They also don't have major companies, like General Motors, flirting with bankruptcy in large part because of the cost of health benefits.     It is a pretty good argument, but it has an undeniable flaw. There is almost no chance of universal coverage happening anytime in the foreseeable future.  

A Health Fix That Is Not Fantasy

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column contends that New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is team's undisputed leader, as was evidenced by his three-run home run in home opener against Kansas City Royals; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Jeter Is the Yankees' True Maximum Leader

New York Yankees defeat Kansas City Royals, 9-7; photos (M)

Jeter Provides Fireworks That Cap Home-Opening Victory

Merck's legal morass just got a whole lot stickier. A jury in Atlantic City yesterday found that Merck had misled the Food and Drug Administration about the dangers of its painkiller Vioxx and acted with wanton disregard for patients taking the drug.     By a vote of 7 to 1, the juroy awarded $9 million in punitive damages to John McDarby, 77, who had a heart attack in 2004 after taking Vioxx for four years, and his wife, Irma. Last week, it gave the McDarbys $4.5 million in compensatory damages.  

Merck Jury Adds $9 Million in Damages

 After 43 Years on the Run, Top Mafioso Is Arrested  Escorted by hooded officers, Bernardo Provenzano, 73, was taken into a police station in Palermo, Sicily, after being seized near Corleone, the home of the ''Godfather'' saga. The vicious Mafia family led by Mr. Provenzano dominated organized crime on the island for decades.   PAGE A3    Arrests in Insider Trading  After a 63-year-old retired seamstress in Croatia made $2 million from Adidas's purchase of Reebok, investigators followed a trail that led to an insider-trading ring run by employees at two American investment banks.   BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1    Another Blow to Merck  A jury in New Jersey found that Merck had misled regulators about the dangers of its painkiller Vioxx and ordered the company to pay $9 million in punitive damages to a man who had a heart attack after taking the drug.    BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1    Kennedy Seeks Compromise  Senator Edward M. Kennedy is pushing aggressively for a bipartisan compromise on immigration, stirring unease among some of his Democratic colleagues.    PAGE A16    29 Indicted in Madrid Attack  A Spanish judge indicted 29 people in the train bombings two years ago, and suggested that the motives included Spain's support of the invasion of Iraq.    PAGE A13    New Breast Cancer Studies  Two new studies challenge conventional thinking about treating breast cancer with chemotherapy and the risks of taking estrogen.    PAGE A18    Vice-Presidential Pitch  Vice President Dick Cheney threw out the first pitch for the Washington Nationals' home opener, a 7-1 Mets victory. The Yankees beat the Royals, 9-7.    SPORTSWEDNESDAY, PAGE D1

INSIDE

Retired police officer Allen Lau is charged with murder in shooting death of retired officer Steven Vitale; no relationship between men has been found; Vitale, who was decorated officer, was shot as he walked to Staten Island restaurant with his wife Karen; Lau surrendered after two-hour stand-off at his home; both men's records with department noted (M)

Murder Charge for Ex-Officer in Staten Island Shooting

The media entrepreneur who controls the rights to Elvis Presley, ''American Idol'' and the soccer star David Beckham has added another star to his roster: Muhammad Ali.     Robert F. X. Sillerman, the chief executive of the entertainment company CKX, announced yesterday that his company had paid $50 million for an 80 percent stake in Mr. Ali's name, image and likeness. The other 20 percent will be retained by Mr. Ali and his company, GOAT (short for the ''greatest of all time'').  

$50 Million Puts Ali in Ring With Elvis and 'American Idol'

Nasdaq said yesterday that it had bought a 15 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange, Europe's largest stock market, in a move to expand its international profile.      The purchase makes Nasdaq the largest shareholder in the exchange and comes one month after Nasdaq's $4.1 billion bid for the exchange was rebuffed as inadequate.  

Nasdaq Buys Stake in London Exchange

Alan Moldawer's adopted twins, Matt and Andrew, had always thought of themselves as white. But when it came time for them to apply to college last year, Mr. Moldawer thought it might be worth investigating the origins of their slightly tan-tinted skin, with a new DNA kit that he had heard could determine an individual's genetic ancestry.     The results, designating the boys 9 percent Native American and 11 percent northern African, arrived too late for the admissions process. But Mr. Moldawer, a business executive in Silver Spring, Md., says they could be useful in obtaining financial aid.  

KLSP, a radio station with one turntable, six employees and a $48 weekly payroll, has limited reach over this patch of swampy farmland and razor wire northwest of Baton Rouge. It is meant to be that way.      The station director and most of the D.J.'s are convicted murderers. Most of its 5,100 listeners are serving life sentences at the Louisiana State Penitentiary here. The 100-foot metal pole that transmits the station's F.C.C.-approved signal -- a relatively weak but consistent 100 watts -- rises from a grassy knoll behind death row.  

Spinning Hope on Incarceration Station

Comprehensive look at three large cuts of meat suitable for entertaining groups of people; gives recipes for fresh ham, whole beef brisket and bone-in leg of lamb; all three meats are inexpensive choices and value increases with size of cut; recipes (L)

Got A Crowd Coming Over? Think Big Cuts Of Meat

Ever since Michael Douglas declared that ''greed is good'' in the 1987 movie ''Wall Street,'' the character he played, Gordon Gekko, has been the face of insider trading on Wall Street.      But it was $2 million in profits made by a 63-year-old retired seamstress in Croatia that tipped off the Securities and Exchange Commission about an ambitious and unusually creative insider trading ring, investigators say. That lead culminated in the arrests yesterday of two junior-level employees at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.  

2 Wall Street Employees Charged With Insider Trading

New York City psychic Yolanda describes her unusual career and planned retirement upstate; photo (M)

For Once, a Psychic Looks Back

Iran announced Tuesday that its nuclear engineers had advanced to a new phase in the enrichment of uranium, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a series of the country's ruling clerics declared that the nation would now speed ahead, in defiance of a United Nations Security Council warning, to produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.      ''Iran has joined the nuclear countries of the world,'' Mr. Ahmadinejad said during a large, carefully staged and nationally televised celebration in Mashhad, which included video presentations of each step of the nuclear process that he declared Iran had mastered. ''The nuclear fuel cycle at the laboratory level has been completed, and uranium with the desired enrichment for nuclear power plants was achieved.''  

Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein yesterday accelerated his drive to hold educators accountable for student achievement, announcing that New York City's more than 1,400 schools will be graded each year just like students, from A to F. Principals whose schools persistently fail could be removed, he said.     Mr. Klein said schools' grades would be determined largely by a more sophisticated analysis of annual standardized test scores. In addition, officials would look at a new set of satisfaction surveys, to be completed by parents, teachers and students.  

William Grimes reviews book Flaubert: A Biography by Frederick Brown; photos (M)

Flaubert as 'an Old Romantic Mad Dog' Searching for a Literary Ideal

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday challenged his opponent's wisp of a victory in the divisive national elections, alternately suggesting a recount, or a German-style grand coalition government.      Although final results announced Tuesday showed his center-left opponent, Romano Prodi, with a thin lead in both houses of Parliament, Mr. Berlusconi contended that the vote was so close that there was ample room for error.  

From his small back office in the Treasure Island casino, Justin Beltram may soon be able to change the wheels of fortune instantly.     Mr. Beltram, a casino executive, is the point man in a high-technology experiment that could alter the face of slot machines, and their insides, too.  

From the Back Office, a Casino Can Change the Slot Machine in Seconds

William Sloane Coffin Jr. was an American Christian clergyman and peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ. In his younger days he was an athlete, a talented pianist, a CIA officer, and later chaplain of Yale University, where the influence of H. Richard Niebuhr's social philosophy led him to become a leader in the civil rights movement and peace movements of the 1960s and 1970s. He also was a member of the secret society Skull and Bones. He went on to serve as senior minister at Riverside Church in New York City and President of SANE/Freeze, the nation's largest peace and social justice group, and prominently opposed United States military interventions in conflicts, from the Vietnam War to the Iraq War. He was also an ardent supporter of gay rights.

April 12, 2006

Headlines from April 12, 2006

Iran Says It Is Making Nuclear Fuel, Defying U.N.

Berlusconi Says He Will Contest Italy Vote Tally

Principals Face Review in Education Overhaul

Seeking Ancestry in DNA Ties Uncovered by Tests

Fat Fight Becomes a Rumble in the Jungle

Billboard 200

King

Greatest Hits Vol 2: Reflected

High School Musical

FishScale

Educated Horses

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for April 12, 2006