Thursday, February 27, 2003

From a White House Roof, Solar Power Proclaims Gains. Solar energy is making inroads, even at the White House, where a shed now has panels. By Lisa Guernsey. 3:18:02 PM

Strategists See Victory in Stalemate Over Nominee. Some Republicans see a political advantage for their party in the continuing fight over President Bush's nominee, Miguel Estrada, to an important appeals court. By Carl Hulse. 3:18:01 PM

National Briefing: Washington. HOUSE APPROVES REDESIGN OF NICKEL; KERRY BACK ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL;. 3:18:01 PM

Pentagon Seeking to Deploy Missiles Before Full Testing. WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 The Pentagon wants to begin deploying its missile defense system on the West Coast next year, before it is fully tested, an idea that has drawn fire from several Democratic lawmakers. By David Firestone. 3:18:00 PM

Sniper Case Defense Lawyers Seek Voiding of a Confession. Defense lawyers for Lee Malvo, the teenager charged in the Washington-area sniper attacks, said today that police investigators were aware of a federal judge's order that should have precluded them from questioning Mr. Malvo without a lawyer. By Jayson Blair. 3:17:59 PM

Old Mississippi Crime Revisited in Murder Trial. Eddie Walters, with gray in his hair now, took the stand to tell of the bullet-riddled body he saw in a Mississippi creek in the summer of 1966, when he was 11 years old. By Rick Bragg. 3:17:59 PM

U.S. Diplomat Resigns, Protesting 'Our Fervent Pursuit of War'. A career diplomat who has served in U.S. embassies from Tel Aviv to Casablanca resigned this week in protest against the country's policies on Iraq. By Felicity Barringer. 3:17:58 PM

Top Air Force General Backs Independent Inquiry in Rapes. Gen. John P. Jumper also promised that officers would investigate accusations that cadets who reported assaults faced indifference. By Eric Schmitt. 3:17:58 PM

House Is Set to Make Cloning of Humans a Crime. Dolly the sheep is dead, but the controversy she created lives on in the House, where lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that bans human cloning. By Sheryl Gay Stolberg. 3:17:57 PM

Admiral Sees Even Chance of Finding Cause of Crash. The leader of the board investigating the Columbia disaster told lawmakers that there was a 50-50 chance the board would be able to isolate the exact cause of the crash. By Richard A. Oppel Jr.. 3:17:57 PM

A Top White House Economic Adviser Steps Down. R. Glenn Hubbard, an architect of President Bush's tax-cutting agenda, resigned on Wednesday as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. By Edmund L. Andrews. 3:17:57 PM

NASA Chief to Testify Before House Panel. WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will tell the House Science Committee on Thursday that the independent board investigating the Columbia disaster ``has made significant progress in organizing its work to determine the cause of the accident.''. By The Associated Press. 3:17:56 PM

Both Parties Begin Effort to Restore Organic Standard. Lawmakers plan to undo a tiny provision, tucked into the omnibus spending bill, that had loosened an organic food regulation to benefit a single chicken company in Georgia. By Elizabeth Becker. 3:17:56 PM

Labor Secretary's Talk Angers Union Leaders. Remarks by Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao about corruption upset union leaders, including the teamster president James P. Hoffa. By Steven Greenhouse. 3:17:55 PM

Bush and Pentagon Wrangle Over War Budget Request. The Pentagon and the White House budget office are wrestling over how much money to seek from Congress to pay for a war against Iraq and reconstruction costs. By David E. Rosenbaum. 3:17:55 PM

Racketeering Conviction of Anti-Abortion Groups Voided. The Supreme Court said the actions of protesters who disrupted abortion clinics in the 1980s, while in some instances criminal, did not qualify as extortion. By Linda Greenhouse. 3:17:54 PM

White House Concedes That Counterterror Budget Is Meager. Responding to criticism from Democrats, and from state governments, the White House agreed that the spending package does not provide enough for counterterror programs. By Philip Shenon. 3:17:54 PM

Bush Says Ousting Hussein Could Aid Peace in Mideast. President Bush declared that removing Saddam Hussein from power could set the stage for peace between Israel and a "truly democratic" Palestinian state. By Elisabeth Bumiller. 3:17:53 PM

Europe's Trade Retaliatory List. The European Commission yesterday unveiled a list of American products that would be hit by sanctions if the United States does not scrap a tax break it grants to many of its biggest exporters. The World Trade Organization supported the union's complaint about the tax breaks last year. It permitted the union to impose trade sanctions on up to $4 billion of United States products, making this by far the biggest trans-Atlantic trade dispute to date. Last September the commission, the executive body of the union, drew up a long list worth $12 billion. After consulting European industry, it has reduced the target list. Items excluded from the short list include some textiles, agriculture and paper products. A commission spokeswoman said that Europe was still hoping that the United States would repeal the law on the tax breaks before any sanctions became necessary. Ê Paul Meller (NYT). By Paul Meller. 3:17:52 PM

Big Changes Likely at Interpublic on Thursday. Big Changes Likely At Interpublic Today. 3:17:52 PM

Hong Kong Moves to Raise Birth Rate and Draw Richer Immigrants. Hong Kong will start accepting immigrants based partly on their wealth and will adjust tax policies to encourage families to have more babies. By Keith Bradsher. 3:17:51 PM

Technology Briefing: Biotechnology. GLYCOSCIENCES REJECTS CELLTECH BID;. 3:17:50 PM

Technology Briefing: Hardware. SHARES OF SONIC SOLUTIONS SOAR ON AOL PACT; NEW PRODUCTS NEEDED, EXECUTIVE SAYS;. 3:17:49 PM

First-Half Profit Drops 44% at Telstra. By The New York Times. By The New York Times. 3:17:48 PM

Swiss Drug Giant Takes Charges Resulting in a Big Loss. Roche Holding, the Swiss drug maker, has decided to swallow a lot of bitter financial medicine at once. By Alison Langley. 3:17:48 PM

A Japanese Theme Park Company Fails. The Huis Ten Bosch Company has declared bankruptcy, highlighting the mounting troubles in the Japan's vast government-financed recreation industry. By Ken Belson. 3:17:47 PM

Swiss Re to Post Loss and Cut Dividend. Swiss Reinsurance, a big reinsurer, said on Wednesday that it would post a loss for 2002 of 100 million Swiss francs ($74 million). By The New York Times. 3:17:47 PM

Dutch Carrier Will Be Shut for a Month After Ryanair Buys It. Ryanair, the low-budget Irish airline, said that it would ground all flights at Buzz for one month once the acquisition is completed in April. By Brian Lavery. 3:17:46 PM

Buddhist Monument and Mall: Will Twain Meet?. A shopping mall, called Java World, may be built near the carved stone terraces of Borobudur, an ancient Buddhist monument in central Java. By Jane Perlez. 3:17:45 PM

Sony Is Venturing Into Online Games for Multitudes. Sony plans to use grid computing, a concept that originated in supercomputing centers, to accelerate its push into the market for online games. By Steve Lohr. 3:17:43 PM

Ruling Allows Bid by Motorola to Proceed. Motorola, the maker of mobile phones, can proceed with its $30 million bid for the 26 percent of Next Level Communications it does not own. By Bloomberg News. 3:17:43 PM

CBS News and White House Differ on Rebutting Hussein. CBS News declined a request to have a White House representative appear during the interview to rebut claims made by the Iraqi president. By Bill Carter. 3:17:40 PM

Riding a Bear Market in Oriental Carpets. For anyone who has ever wanted an old Persian rug to warm up a favorite room, now may be the time to snag one. By Marianne Rohrlich. 3:17:39 PM

Looking Inside the Brains of the Stingy. A new field is using the tools of neuroscience to find the biological mechanisms that lead people to act, or not act, according to economic theory. By Virginia Postrel. 3:17:39 PM

Staples to Stress Ease of Shopping. The campaign makes a new slogan, "That was easy," its centerpiece. By Stuart Elliott. 3:17:38 PM

Colored Stones Light a Fire in Jewelry Sales. Jewelers are hoping that "fashion jewelry," which is made from semiprecious stones, will bail them out of the current listless market. By Tracie Rozhon. 3:17:37 PM

Thomson Profits Rise 10%. The Thomson Corporation, the electronic publishing group controlled by the Thomson family of Canada, reported yesterday a 10 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings, to $288 million, or 44 cents a share. 3:17:37 PM

F.C.C. Members Testify About New High-Speed Rules. The members of the Federal Communications Commission defended their new telephone and broadband policy in front of a Congressional hearing on Wednesday. By Jennifer 8. Lee. 3:17:36 PM

S.E.C. Expands Investigation of HealthSouth Transactions. Federal regulators have expanded their inquiry into the HealthSouth Corporation, with investigators gaining subpoena power. 3:17:35 PM

Europeans Propose to End 'Open Skies' Deals. The European Union moved on Wednesday to strip its members of power to negotiate their own bilateral aviation agreements with outside nations. By Paul Meller. 3:17:35 PM

A Grand Jury Is Investigating Bridgestone Tires. A federal grand jury is conducting a criminal investigation related to Bridgestone tires that were linked to deaths and injuries involving Ford Explorers. By Bloomberg News. 3:17:35 PM

Commitment of Automakers to Safety Is Under Fire. A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday challenged the auto industry's commitment to voluntarily improve the safety of sport utility vehicles. By Danny Hakim. 3:17:34 PM

Jobless Claims Rise in Latest Week. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans seeking initial jobless benefits rose to the highest level in more than two months, the government said on Thursday, underscoring the sluggishness in the labor market. By Reuters. 3:17:34 PM

Mixed Signals Show Economy's Tough Road. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy's bumpy road to recovery was vividly seen Thursday in a trio of reports: Demand to factories for big-ticket goods posted the best showing in six months, but new-home sales plummeted and unemployment claims hit a two-month high. By The Associated Press. 3:17:33 PM

Greenspan Warns of Social Security Delay. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned on Thursday that delays in making necessary changes in Social Security and Medicare to handle the impending retirement of baby boomers could mean ``abrupt and painful'' adjustments later on. By The Associated Press. 3:17:33 PM

Troubles Build for Ahold, the Dutch Grocery. The troubles of Royal Ahold deepened on Wednesday, as investigations and investor lawsuits mounted against the Dutch-based supermarket giant. By Gregory Crouch with Suzanne Kapner. 3:17:32 PM

Bayer Stock Falls as Drug Lawsuits Frighten Investors. Shareholders are abandoning the German pharmaceutical giant out of fear that it may be forced to settle lawsuits related to its anticholesterol drug. By Mark Landler. 3:17:31 PM

A Top White House Economic Adviser Steps Down. R. Glenn Hubbard, an architect of President Bush's tax-cutting agenda, resigned on Wednesday as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. By Edmund L. Andrews. 3:17:30 PM

Two Ex-Officials at Kmart Face Fraud Charges. Two former executives were indicted on Wednesday over their recording of a $42 million payment that resulted in an overstatement of Kmart's results. By Constance L. Hays. 3:17:29 PM

New Home Sales Drop 15.1% in January. Purchases of new homes dipped to their lowest level in a year in January, raising concerns that the recent strength in the housing market could be running its course. By Reuters. 3:17:29 PM

Analyst Coached WorldCom Chief on His Script. As shares of WorldCom were falling last year, analyst Jack B. Grubman e-mailed the company's founder with advice on how to quiet rumors of fiscal problems. By Gretchen Morgenson. 3:17:29 PM

Lucent Sets Deal With S.E.C. to End Accounting Inquiry. The agreement, which is subject to final approval by the S.E.C., would not require Lucent to pay any fines or make any financial restatements. By Simon Romero. 3:17:28 PM

Chief Demoted in Management Shake-Up at Interpublic. The directors of the Interpublic Group of Companies, the troubled New York-based advertising agency company, voted to replace its chairman with a top executive. By Stuart Elliott. 3:17:28 PM

Oil Prices Hit Highest Levels Since the Persian Gulf War. Oil prices surged again today after President Bush reiterated his case for using military force against Iraq, but retreated in afternoon trading. By Neela Banerjee. 3:17:27 PM

Excerpts From NASA E-Mail Messages About Space Shuttle Before Crash. Following are excerpts from e-mail messages exchanged among engineers during the shuttle Columbia's flight. They were released by the space agency yesterday in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act. 3:17:26 PM

National Briefing: South. FLORIDA: Execution For Killer; ALABAMA: Support For Bible Study;. 3:17:26 PM

National Briefing: West. CALIFORNIA: Judge Hears Blake Tape;. 3:17:25 PM

Old Mississippi Crime Revisited in Murder Trial. Eddie Walters, with gray in his hair now, took the stand to tell of the bullet-riddled body he saw in a Mississippi creek in the summer of 1966, when he was 11 years old. By Rick Bragg. 3:17:25 PM

Shuttle Debris Forms Giant Puzzle in a Hangar. In a hangar designed for a possible successor to the space shuttle, engineers and technicians are trying to reassemble what remains of America's first reusable spaceship. By Stefano S. Coledan. 3:17:24 PM

Strategists See Victory in Stalemate Over Nominee. Some Republicans see a political advantage for their party in the continuing fight over President Bush's nominee, Miguel Estrada, to an important appeals court. By Carl Hulse. 3:17:24 PM

Labor Secretary's Talk Angers Union Leaders. Remarks by Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao about corruption upset union leaders, including the teamster president James P. Hoffa. By Steven Greenhouse. 3:17:23 PM

House Is Set to Make Cloning of Humans a Crime. Dolly the sheep is dead, but the controversy she created lives on in the House, where lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that bans human cloning. By Sheryl Gay Stolberg. 3:17:23 PM

Manager Says Club Outsold Its Capacity Several Times. WEST WARWICK, R.I., Feb. 26 The nightclub that burned to the ground here last week, killing 97 people, often sold tickets for concerts far in excess of its legal capacity of about 300 people, a manager for several bands that played at the club said today. By Lydia Polgreen. 3:17:22 PM

Title IX Reformers Keep Men in Mind. A federal commission recommended that the law be retooled to ensure that new sports opportunities for women do not come at the expense of men's teams. By Diana Jean Schemo. 3:17:21 PM

Where the Hall Monitor Is a Webcam. Propelled by Columbine and 9/11, officials are considering a broad range of measures to improve school security, everything from sophisticated video surveillance to biometric identity cards. By Katie Hafner. 3:17:20 PM

In Chicago, Ex-Athletes Know Politics Is a Sport. Voters on the South Side of Chicago marked their ballots for Bob Love, the former Chicago Bull, in a seven-candidate race for the City Council. By Ira Berkow. 3:17:19 PM

Romney's Campus Plan Would Cut Deficit, and a Political Foe. BOSTON, Feb. 26 Gov. Mitt Romney today proposed to reorganize the University of Massachusetts as part of his plan to cut the state's huge budget deficit. In the process, he would eliminate the $309,000-a-year job of the school's president, William M. Bulger. By Fox Butterfield. 3:17:19 PM

Bush and Pentagon Wrangle Over War Budget Request. The Pentagon and the White House budget office are wrestling over how much money to seek from Congress to pay for a war against Iraq and reconstruction costs. By David E. Rosenbaum. 3:17:18 PM

Sniper Case Defense Lawyers Seek Voiding of a Confession. Defense lawyers for Lee Malvo, the teenager charged in the Washington-area sniper attacks, said today that police investigators were aware of a federal judge's order that should have precluded them from questioning Mr. Malvo without a lawyer. By Jayson Blair. 3:17:18 PM

Pentagon Seeking to Deploy Missiles Before Full Testing. WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 The Pentagon wants to begin deploying its missile defense system on the West Coast next year, before it is fully tested, an idea that has drawn fire from several Democratic lawmakers. By David Firestone. 3:17:17 PM

White House Concedes That Counterterror Budget Is Meager. Responding to criticism from Democrats, and from state governments, the White House agreed that the spending package does not provide enough for counterterror programs. By Philip Shenon. 3:17:17 PM

Both Parties Begin Effort to Restore Organic Standard. Lawmakers plan to undo a tiny provision, tucked into the omnibus spending bill, that had loosened an organic food regulation to benefit a single chicken company in Georgia. By Elizabeth Becker. 3:17:16 PM

Admiral Sees Even Chance of Finding Cause of Crash. The leader of the board investigating the Columbia disaster told lawmakers that there was a 50-50 chance the board would be able to isolate the exact cause of the crash. By Richard A. Oppel Jr.. 3:17:16 PM

Pope Reportedly Acts to Speed Removal of Abusive Priests. Pope John Paul II quietly approved changes in church law this month that will speed the removal of sexual abusers from the priesthood, according to a spokesman. By Laurie Goodstein. 3:17:15 PM

Club Workers Say Soundproofing Insulation Was Donated. State and federal investigators looking into the deadly Rhode Island nightclub fire have become very interested in the foam insulation that was installed 18 months ago. By Paul von Zielbauer. 3:17:15 PM

Racketeering Conviction of Anti-Abortion Groups Voided. The Supreme Court said the actions of protesters who disrupted abortion clinics in the 1980s, while in some instances criminal, did not qualify as extortion. By Linda Greenhouse. 3:17:14 PM

Top Air Force General Backs Independent Inquiry in Rapes. Gen. John P. Jumper also promised that officers would investigate accusations that cadets who reported assaults faced indifference. By Eric Schmitt. 3:17:14 PM

Shuttle Engineers Debated Chances of Grave Damage. A series of e-mail messages reveals intense debate over how much damage the shuttle suffered when debris flew from the external fuel tank. By Matthew L. Wald with William J. Broad. 3:17:13 PM

Technology Briefing: Telecommunications. NEXTEL PARTNERS POSTS NARROWER LOSS;. 3:17:08 PM

Technology Briefing: Biotechnology. GLYCOSCIENCES REJECTS CELLTECH BID;. 3:17:07 PM

Technology Briefing: Deals. COMPUTER SCIENCES WINS BASELL CONTRACT;. 3:17:07 PM

Technology Briefing: Hardware. SHARES OF SONIC SOLUTIONS SOAR ON AOL PACT; NEW PRODUCTS NEEDED, EXECUTIVE SAYS;. 3:17:06 PM

Where the Hall Monitor Is a Webcam. Propelled by Columbine and 9/11, officials are considering a broad range of measures to improve school security, everything from sophisticated video surveillance to biometric identity cards. By Katie Hafner. 3:17:06 PM

An Antiwar Demonstration That Does Not Take to the Streets. The switchboard on Capitol Hill was swamped on Wednesday as antiwar protesters conducted what they called the first "virtual march" on Washington. By John Tierney. 3:17:05 PM

Sony Is Venturing Into Online Games for Multitudes. Sony plans to use grid computing, a concept that originated in supercomputing centers, to accelerate its push into the market for online games. By Steve Lohr. 3:17:05 PM

F.C.C. Members Testify About New High-Speed Rules. The members of the Federal Communications Commission defended their new telephone and broadband policy in front of a Congressional hearing on Wednesday. By Jennifer 8. Lee. 3:17:04 PM

Lucent Reaches Agreement With S.E.C. Staff. Under the agreement to resolve an investigation into how revenue was reported, Lucent would not pay fines or make financial restatements. By The Associated Press. 3:17:03 PM

World Business Briefing: Asia. SOUTH KOREA: Current Account Deficit Rises; SOUTH KOREA: A Write-Down Of Hynix Shares;. 3:17:00 PM

Europe's Trade Retaliatory List. The European Commission yesterday unveiled a list of American products that would be hit by sanctions if the United States does not scrap a tax break it grants to many of its biggest exporters. The World Trade Organization supported the union's complaint about the tax breaks last year. It permitted the union to impose trade sanctions on up to $4 billion of United States products, making this by far the biggest trans-Atlantic trade dispute to date. Last September the commission, the executive body of the union, drew up a long list worth $12 billion. After consulting European industry, it has reduced the target list. Items excluded from the short list include some textiles, agriculture and paper products. A commission spokeswoman said that Europe was still hoping that the United States would repeal the law on the tax breaks before any sanctions became necessary. Ê Paul Meller (NYT). By Paul Meller. 3:16:59 PM

Bayer Stock Falls as Drug Lawsuits Frighten Investors. Shareholders are abandoning the German pharmaceutical giant out of fear that it may be forced to settle lawsuits related to its anticholesterol drug. By Mark Landler. 3:16:58 PM

Swiss Drug Giant Takes Charges Resulting in a Big Loss. Roche Holding, the Swiss drug maker, has decided to swallow a lot of bitter financial medicine at once. By Alison Langley. 3:16:57 PM

A Japanese Theme Park Company Fails. The Huis Ten Bosch Company has declared bankruptcy, highlighting the mounting troubles in the Japan's vast government-financed recreation industry. By Ken Belson. 3:16:56 PM

Europeans Propose to End 'Open Skies' Deals. The European Union moved on Wednesday to strip its members of power to negotiate their own bilateral aviation agreements with outside nations. By Paul Meller. 3:16:55 PM

Swiss Re to Post Loss and Cut Dividend. Swiss Reinsurance, a big reinsurer, said on Wednesday that it would post a loss for 2002 of 100 million Swiss francs ($74 million). By The New York Times. 3:16:55 PM

Dutch Carrier Will Be Shut for a Month After Ryanair Buys It. Ryanair, the low-budget Irish airline, said that it would ground all flights at Buzz for one month once the acquisition is completed in April. By Brian Lavery. 3:16:54 PM

Bush and Pentagon Wrangle Over War Budget Request. The Pentagon and the White House budget office are wrestling over how much money to seek from Congress to pay for a war against Iraq and reconstruction costs. By David E. Rosenbaum. 3:16:52 PM

White House Concedes That Counterterror Budget Is Meager. Responding to criticism from Democrats, and from state governments, the White House agreed that the spending package does not provide enough for counterterror programs. By Philip Shenon. 3:16:50 PM

U.S. Diplomat Resigns, Protesting 'Our Fervent Pursuit of War'. A career diplomat who has served in U.S. embassies from Tel Aviv to Casablanca resigned this week in protest against the country's policies on Iraq. By Felicity Barringer. 3:16:49 PM

Parliament Backs Blair on Iraq, but Vote Bares Rift in Labor Party. A daylong debate in the House of Commons laid bare the deep divisions in Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party over his hard-line stance on disarming Iraq. By Warren Hoge. 3:16:49 PM

European Leaders Dig in to Defend Their Positions on Iraq. Europe's leaders worked determinedly on Wednesday to ensure against defections from their well-defined ranks on the Iraq issue. By Elaine Sciolino. 3:16:48 PM

Manhunt for bin Laden and Top Aide, Zawahiri, Continues to Be Fruitless. The fruitless manhunt serves as a reminder of the Bush administration's inability to achieve one of the main goals of its antiterror effort. By Raymond Bonner with David Johnston. 3:16:47 PM

Israel Says War on Iraq Would Benefit the Region. Israelis are putting hopes for Israeli-Arab coexistence in an American war on Iraq. By James Bennet. 3:16:46 PM

CBS News and White House Differ on Rebutting Hussein. CBS News declined a request to have a White House representative appear during the interview to rebut claims made by the Iraqi president. By Bill Carter. 3:16:45 PM

4 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Checkpoint in Northern Iraq. A man detonated a bomb he was wearing near a Kurdish military headquarters in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing himself and three others. By C. J. Chivers. 3:16:43 PM

Turkish Lawmakers Tugged by Their Public and the U.S.. Turkey's most important ally, the U.S., wants to bring in 62,000 soldiers for an invasion of Iraq, and the overwhelming majority of the Turkish people oppose it. By Dexter Filkins. 3:16:42 PM

In the President's Words: 'Free People Will Keep the Peace of the World'. Following is a transcript of the speech given yesterday by President Bush to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, as recorded by The New York Times:. 3:16:40 PM

Bush Looks Past War to Peace in Middle East. President Bush embraced the goals that his father pursued when he attacked Saddam Hussein's forces more than a decade ago. By Patrick E. Tyler. 3:16:39 PM

World Briefing: Oceania. PITCAIRN: Charges On Remote Island;. 3:16:38 PM

World Briefing: Americas. MEXICO: Conviction Upheld In JuçRez Killing;. 3:16:37 PM

Hong Kong Moves to Raise Birth Rate and Draw Richer Immigrants. Hong Kong will start accepting immigrants based partly on their wealth and will adjust tax policies to encourage families to have more babies. By Keith Bradsher. 3:16:36 PM

Serb in Court in The Hague, Playing to a TV Audience at Home. Vojislav Seselj presented himself to the U.N. tribunal in The Hague as a victim, rather than perpetrator, of the wars, and listed several objections. By Marlise Simons. 3:16:34 PM

U.N. Team Calls Iran Helpful in Inquiry Showing Rights Abuses. A U.N. team examining human rights abuses in Iran said that it had found violations but noted that Iranian authorities had shown extensive cooperation in the inquiry. By Nazila Fathi. 3:16:31 PM

Guatemalans Try to Mend Ties Snapped by War. Guatemalans are attempting to heal the trauma of the 36-year civil war with a mix of contemporary psychology and centuries-old Mayan beliefs. By David Gonzalez. 3:16:28 PM

Sharon Drops Netanyahu, a Rival, From New Cabinet. In a surprise move, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon replaced his foreign minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with a relative novice in diplomatic affairs. By Greg Myre. 3:16:27 PM

South Korea's New President Gets His Choice for Prime Minister. Roh Moo Hyun's choice for prime minister, Goh Kun, was approved Wednesday night, clearing the way for Mr. Roh to appoint a cabinet on Thursday. By Howard W. French. 3:16:26 PM

British Judge Rules Sperm Donor Is Legal Father in Mix-Up Case. A black man whose sperm had mistakenly been used to fertilize the eggs of a white woman was declared the legal father of the twins born nine months later. By Sarah Lyall. 3:16:25 PM

Buddhist Monument and Mall: Will Twain Meet?. A shopping mall, called Java World, may be built near the carved stone terraces of Borobudur, an ancient Buddhist monument in central Java. By Jane Perlez. 3:16:23 PM

The House of Speer: Still Rising on the Skyline. Albert Speer, son of Hitler's chief architect, has been getting some attention in Germany because he submitted a grand design for the future development of Beijing. By Richard Bernstein. 3:16:21 PM

South Korean President Names Cabinet and Faces New Challenge. President Roh Moo Hyun faced his first major challenge in the form of claims by Washington that North Korea had restarted the nuclear reactor. By Don Kirk. 3:16:20 PM

Archbishop of Canterbury Is Enthroned. Rowan Williams, a Welsh churchman in favor of gays and women as clerics, is the new spiritual leader of the world's 70 million Anglicans. By Warren Hoge. 3:16:19 PM

Thousands Protest in Cairo Against a U.S.-Led War on Iraq. Egyptians gathered today in Cairo's main stadium for one of the largest tolerated protests in the country in years. By Steven Lee Myers. 3:16:18 PM

Bitterly Divided Security Council Meets on Iraq Resolution. The Security Council met today to begin considering a resolution drafted by the United States that would find Baghdad in breach of weapons restrictions. By Timothy L. O'brien. 3:16:17 PM

Turkey Delays Vote on Allowing In U.S. Troops for Iraq War. The move came amid indications that Turkey's ruling party was having difficulty mustering the necessary support. By Dexter Filkins. 3:16:16 PM

U.S. Envoy Reassures Kurds on Concerns About Turkey. Zalmay Khalilzad pledged that the U.S. did not want to rule Iraq and would rely on a broad-based opposition to govern the country. By Judith Miller and C. J. Chivers. 3:16:16 PM

Sharon Presents New Cabinet. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon formally presented his right-wing government to the Israeli Parliament today. By Greg Myre. 3:16:15 PM

Reactor Started in North Korea, U.S. Concludes. Restarting the reactor enables North Korea to produce the nuclear waste that could provide a source of plutonium for nuclear weapons. By David E. Sanger. 3:16:14 PM

Mixed Reviews Around the World for Bush's Mideast Speech. President Bush's latest assertion that the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein would help democratize the region met with decidedly mixed reactions today. By Brian Knowltoninternational Herald Tribune. 3:16:13 PM

U.S. Says Iraqi Troops on Move; Missile Decision Awaited. Thousands of elite Iraqi Republican Guard troops are moving from their posts in the north of Iraq to defensive positions around Baghdad or other nearby cities. By Joel Brinkley. 3:16:12 PM

Excerpts From NASA E-Mail Messages About Space Shuttle Before Crash. Following are excerpts from e-mail messages exchanged among engineers during the shuttle Columbia's flight. They were released by the space agency yesterday in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act. 3:16:07 PM

Shuttle Debris Forms Giant Puzzle in a Hangar. In a hangar designed for a possible successor to the space shuttle, engineers and technicians are trying to reassemble what remains of America's first reusable spaceship. By Stefano S. Coledan. 3:16:06 PM

House Is Set to Make Cloning of Humans a Crime. Dolly the sheep is dead, but the controversy she created lives on in the House, where lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that bans human cloning. By Sheryl Gay Stolberg. 3:16:05 PM

Looking Inside the Brains of the Stingy. A new field is using the tools of neuroscience to find the biological mechanisms that lead people to act, or not act, according to economic theory. By Virginia Postrel. 3:16:04 PM

From a White House Roof, Solar Power Proclaims Gains. Solar energy is making inroads, even at the White House, where a shed now has panels. By Lisa Guernsey. 3:16:03 PM

Be Your Own Wireless Network. When no network or phone jack is available, a cellphone can pinch-hit as a wireless Internet tool. By Sarah Milstein. 3:16:02 PM

Shuttle Engineers Debated Chances of Grave Damage. A series of e-mail messages reveals intense debate over how much damage the shuttle suffered when debris flew from the external fuel tank. By Matthew L. Wald with William J. Broad. 3:16:02 PM