Port Authority of New York
Port Authority

Summary: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is failing to properly screen truck drivers allowed onto port terminals, according to a new federal report that found that nearly half the drivers whose backgrounds were checked had possible criminal histories. The Port Authority requires these drivers to submit photographs, as well as their Social Security and driver's license numbers, but it does not check this information against criminal databases before issuing a Sea Link card, the report said. Anthony R. Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority, said that if the federal government took too long, the Port Authority may ask the New York and New Jersey governments to authorize law enforcement officials to do background checks on port workers, including truck drivers.

Summary: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is failing to screen truck drivers allowed onto port terminals, according to a new federal report that nearly half the drivers whose backgrounds were checked had possible criminal histories. Concerned about the pattern, the department decreed the Port Authority for access to records from its Sea Link program, which is intended to help move truck traffic quickly past security gates by clearing drivers before they arrive. The Port Authority requires these drivers to submit photographs, and their Social Security and driver's license numbers, but it does not check this information against criminal databases before issuing a Sea Link card, as the report said.


Summary: John A. Gotti's defense, that he had withdrawn from the crime family, drew a harsh rebuttal from the prosecutor, Michael McGovern, who compared him to a heavy drinker. Mr. McGovern said that for the withdrawal defense to stand, the jury would have to be convinced that Mr. Gotti did not receive any financial or other benefit, not a single red penny, from the Gambino family after July 21, 1999, five years before he was indicted in the current case. Mr. McGovern listed examples of Mr. Gotti's continuing participation in the racketeering conspiracy, including his use of a Mafia lawyer, or 'house counsel,' as he put it, to send messages while he was in jail and his continuing collection of rent from commercial property in Queens, which the prosecution contends he bought with Gambino money.

Summary: Mr. Gotti's defense, which he had withdrawn from the crime family, drew a harsh disapproval from the prosecutor, Michael McGovern, who compared him to a heavy drinker. Mr. McGovern asked the jury that have they ever encountered somebody with a hangover, facing the evidence of his crimes? saying, He is  never going to have another drink. He noted that the defense had not called any ''made'' members of the Mafia to corroborate Mr. Gotti's testimony, even though several of them were in jail and would have had little to lose.


Summary: John A. Gotti's lawyer declared in open court yesterday that Mr. Gotti was the heir apparent to the Gambino organized crime family in 1992, after his father, then the boss of the family, was sentenced to life in prison. Mr. McGovern said that for the withdrawal defense to stand, the jury would have to be convinced that Mr. Gotti did not receive any financial or other benefit from the Gambino family after July 21, 1999, five years before he was indicted in the current case. Mr. McGovern listed examples of Mr. Gotti's continuing participation in the racketeering conspiracy, including his use of a Mafia lawyer, or 'house counsel,' as he put it, to send messages while he was in jail and his continuing collection of rent from commercial property in Queens, which the prosecution contends he bought with Gambino money.

Summary: John A. Gotti's lawyer declared in open court that Mr. Gotti was the ''heir apparent'' to the Gambino organized crime family, after his father, then the boss of the family, was sentenced to life in prison. John Gotti was involved in the Gambino organized crime family which is said by Mr. Carnesi in his closing argument. Not only was he involved, he was in 1992 the heir apparent.


Summary: Violating, on his client's behalf, what has been described at the trial as a sacred code of silence about even admitting the existence of the Mafia, Mr. Gotti's lawyer, Charles Carnesi, said he was not trying to be sarcastic or facetious. He said that he only wanted to be clear about a past that his client had renounced. Mr. Carnesi said in his closing argument that John Gotti was involved in the Gambino organized crime family. Mr. Carnesi also said that to expect corroboration from other Mafiosi was ridiculous and he has no burden of proving that the entire Gambino organization left with him. He said Mr. Gotti had settled his debt to the government, by serving seven years in prison, including time after his indictment in the current case, and by selling his house and forfeiting $1.5 million.

Summary: Violating, on the behalf of his client, what has been described at the trial as a sacred code of silence about even admitting the existence of the Mafia, Mr. Gotti's lawyer, Charles Carnesi, said he was not trying to be ''sarcastic or facetious.'' He only wanted to clear about the past that his client had renounced, he said. Mr. Carnesi said in his closing argument that John Gotti was involved in the Gambino organized crime family.


Peter Gotti
John A. Gotti
John Gotti
John J. Gotti
Gotti

Summary: Standing Mafia tradition on its head, John A. Gotti's lawyer declared in open court yesterday that Mr. Gotti was the heir apparent to the Gambino organized crime family in 1992, after his father, then the boss of the family, was sentenced to life in prison. Violating, on his client's behalf, what has been described at the trial as a sacred code of silence about even admitting the existence of the Mafia, Mr. Gotti's lawyer, Charles Carnesi, said he was not trying to be sarcastic or facetious. He only wanted to be clear about a past that his client had renounced, he said. He was the person who his father wanted to take over that family. That blunt assertion came yesterday before the racketeering conspiracy case against Mr. Gotti went to the jury in Federal District Court in Manhattan at 4:45 p.m.

Summary: John A. Gotti's lawyer declared in open court that he was the ''heir apparent'' to the Gambino organized crime family, after his father, then after the boss of the family, was sentenced to life in prison. Violating, on his client's behalf, what has been described at the trial as a holy code of silence about even admitting the existence of the Mafia, Charles Carnesi, who is the lawyer of Mr. Gotti, said that he was not trying to be ''sarcastic or facetious.'' He only wanted to be clear about a past that his client had renounced, he said. Mr. Carnesi said in his closing argument that John Gotti was involved in the Gambino organized crime family.


Sony BMG
Sony
Sony BMG Music Entertainment

Summary: Two of the four major record companies, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and the Warner Music Group, agreed to multimillion-dollar settlements and adopted tighter promotion policies. The largest settlement so far in the case is $10 million from Sony BMG. In one example cited in legal papers, the director of an Entercom pop music station in Buffalo, WKSE, wrote in a July 2003 e-mail message to an executive at the Columbia Records unit of Sony asking whether they needed help on Jessica [Simpson] that week?

Summary: Sony BMG Music Entertainment and the Warner Music Group, the two of the four major record companies, agreed to multimillion-dollar settlements and adopted tighter promotion policies. The largest settlement till date in the case is $10 million from Sony BMG.


Summary: In July 2004, the lawsuit said, an employee at one station e-mailed one of the chain's top programmers, Pat Paxton, and its chief executive, David J. Field, saying that a local programmer had been taking record company money and makes him help him. The lawsuit said Mr. Paxton referred the issue to a supervisor but never followed up. Mr. Spitzer also focused on a program created in part by Mr. Paxton and Mr. Field, called CD Preview, in which labels can buy 'spins' on stations. Mr. Paxton said in a 2003 e-mail message to Mr. Field that programmers would seriously consider but would not be required to add songs.

Summary: Pat Paxton, and its chief executive, David J. Field, received a e-mail from an employee at one station in July 2004, and they said that the local programmer had been taking the record company money and makes him help them. The lawsuit said Mr. Paxton referred the issue to a supervisor but never followed up. Mr. Spitzer also focused on a program created in part by Mr. Paxton and Mr. Field, called CD Preview, in which labels can buy ''spins'' on stations. Mr. Paxton said in an e-mail message to Mr. Field that programmers would seriously be considered but would not be required to add songs.


Summary: Pat Paxton is one of the chain's top programmers, who received an e-mail by the employee at one station in july 2004. David J. Field, saying that a local programmer had been taking the money of record company and makes him to help them. The lawsuit said Mr. Paxton referred the issue to a supervisor but never followed the same. Mr. Spitzer also focused on a program created in part by Mr. Paxton and Mr. Field, which is called CD Preview, in which labels can buy ''spins'' on stations. Mr. Paxton said in e-mail message to Mr. Field that programmers would further seriously consider but would not be required to add songs.


Entercom
Entercom Communications
Entercom.

Summary: The New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, accused the radio giant Entercom Communications yesterday of soliciting money and gifts from record companies in exchange for playing songs on the air. The suit accuses senior executives at Entercom, the nation's fifth-biggest radio chain, of directing efforts to extract improper payments from record companies and independent promoters, who are middlemen hired to pitch songs. In papers filed at the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Spitzer's office said Entercom also created programs to sell advertising time to record companies in a scheme that was used to inflate the performance of songs on charts monitored by other programmers.

Summary: Eliot Spitzer is the New York attorney general, accused the radio giant company Entercom Communications for soliciting money and gifts from record companies in exchange for playing songs on the air. The suit accuses senior executives of Entercom, the nation's fifth-biggest radio chain, of directing efforts to extract improper payments from record companies and independent promoters, who are middlemen hired to pitch songs. In papers there is filed at the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Spitzer's office said Entercom also created programs to sell advertising time to record companies in a scheme that was further used to inflate the performance of songs on charts monitored by other programmers.


Summary: Entercom's programmers occasionally complained that CD Preview meant that stations were playing songs excessively, one played ''Don't Tell Me'' by Avril Lavigne 109 times in a week, with more than a third of the plays paid for by her label, Arista Records.

Summary: Even Entercom's programmers occasionally complained that CD Preview meant that stations were playing songs excessively one played ''Don't Tell Me'' by Avril Lavigne 109 times in a week, with more than a third of the plays paid for by her label, Arista Records.


Summary: In one example cited in legal papers, the director of an Entercom pop music station in Buffalo, WKSE, wrote in a July 2003 e-mail message to an executive at the Columbia Records unit of Sony asking if they need help on Jessica [Simpson] this week? If they don't need help, he certainly don't need to play it. WKSE fired the programmer last year, but Mr. Spitzer said his illegal transactions were clearly disclosed to his supervisors. In another case, the lawsuit contends a programmer at a country music station in Rochester, WBEE, asked executives at Universal South, a unit of the Universal Music Group, to buy a $2,500 laptop computer for the station, and in exchange added songs by two artists to the playlist.

Summary: The director of an Entercom pop music station in Buffalo, WKSE, wrote in an e-mail message to an executive at the Columbia Records unit of Sony, on whether they needed help on Jessica Simpson. WKSE fired the programmer last year, but Mr. Spitzer said his illegal transactions were clearly disclosed to his supervisors.


Summary: The lawsuit said an employee e-mailed one of the chain's top programmers, Pat Paxton, and its chief executive, David J. Field, saying that a local programmer had been taking record company money. The lawsuit said Mr. Paxton referred the issue to a supervisor but never followed up. Mr. Paxton said in a 2003 e-mail message to Mr. Field that programmers would seriously consider but would not be required to add songs.


Summary: The New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, accused the radio giant Entercom Communications yesterday of soliciting money and gifts from record companies in exchange for playing songs on the air. The lawsuit is the first time that Mr. Spitzer has focused his continuing payola investigation on a broadcaster. In papers filed at the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Spitzer's office said Entercom also created programs to sell advertising time to record companies in a scheme that was used to inflate the performance of songs on charts monitored by other programmers. Mr. Spitzer had been seeking a settlement of about $20 million from Entercom.

Summary: The New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, accused the radio giant Entercom Communications of soliciting money and gifts from record companies in exchange for playing songs on the air. The lawsuit is the first one that Mr. Spitzer has filed in the inquiry, which began in 2004. Mr. Spitzer had been seeking a settlement of about $20 million from Entercom. Mr. Spitzer also focused on a program created in part by Mr. Paxton and Mr. Field, called CD Preview.


Summary: On Wednesday, the oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange were sent down $1.56, to $60.02 a barrel.

Summary: Taken together, these sent oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange down $1.56, to $60.02 a barrel on Wednesday.


Summary: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Wednesday that it would keep pumping oil near its maximum levels in an effort that could cool down prices. The decision by the OPEC, which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude oil, coincided with a report showing a surge in crude oil stocks in the United States. But with geopolitical tensions revolving around several oil producers, including the OPEC members Nigeria, Iran and Iraq, ministers at the gathering here acknowledge that their action may have little impact on today's volatile markets.

Summary: OPEC said that it would keep pumping oil near its maximum levels in an effort to cool down prices. The decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude oil regarding the surge in crude oil stocks in the United States. OPEC's chief concern recently has been about falling oil prices. OPEC's top representatives have been eager to trim production, fearing that a seasonal slowdown in demand in the second quarter and a build-up in inventories might lead to a sharp slide in prices.


Summary: Mr. Edmund Daukoru, OPEC's current president and also Nigeria's oil minister, said he believed $60 constituted a fair price for oil. He simply said that there are probably as many views as there are member countries as to what a fair price is.

Summary: OPEC's current president, Edmund Daukoru, said in a news conference at the end of the group's one-day meeting, that prices have their ebbs and flows but they are concerned that prices don't get out of hand. Last week, Mr. Daukoru, who is also Nigeria's oil minister, said he believed $60 constituted a fair price for oil. He declined to repeat that statement Wednesday by simply saying that there are probably as many views as there are member countries as to what a fair price is.


Summary: OPEC said that it would keep pumping oil near its maximum levels in an effort that could cool down prices. The decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude oil, showing a surge in crude oil stocks in the United States. Since OPEC abandoned its target range of $22 to $28 a barrel in January 2005, the oil-producing group has left one major question unanswered. OPEC's chief concern recently has been about falling oil prices. OPEC's top representatives have been eager to trim production, fearing that a seasonal slowdown in demand in the second quarter and a build-up in inventories might lead to a sharp slide in prices.

Summary: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Wednesday that it would keep pumping oil near its maximum levels in an effort that could cool down prices. The decision by the OPEC, which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude oil, coincided with a report showing a surge in crude oil stocks in the United States. But with geopolitical tensions revolving around several oil producers, including the OPEC members Nigeria, Iran and Iraq, ministers at the gathering here acknowledge that their action may have little impact on today's volatile markets.


Nissan
Nissan North America
Nissan Motor Company

Summary: The Nissan Motor Company said that its top North American sales executive was retiring. Two of the closest associates of Nissan's chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, were promoted to top positions in its North American operations. It was a sign that Mr. Ghosn, who took responsibility for Nissan's North American operations in 2005, wants his lieutenants in charge. James C. Morton, North American administration and finance chief, was moved to the newly created post of vice chairman at Nissan North America.

Summary: The Nissan Motor Company said on Wednesday that its top North American sales executive was retiring, the highest-level employee to leave as the company prepares to move its American headquarters from Southern California to Tennessee. The announcements come as Nissan, which has become one of the biggest threats to American automakers, has recently had trouble maintaining momentum from its record sales of the last two years. When Nissan announced late last year that it would move to Franklin, Tenn., just outside Nashville, to save money, the news prompted concerns of a brain drain at the company. The company has said it plans to be completely moved out of its California headquarters by Aug. 1, and will have a new headquarters built in Franklin within two years.


Summary: Two of the closest associates of Nissan's chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, were promoted to top positions in its North American operations. It was a sign that Mr. Ghosn, who took responsibility for Nissan's North American operations in 2005, wants his lieutenants in charge. Mr. Thormann accompanied Mr. Ghosn to Tokyo when he took charge of Nissan in 1999 and is considered the architect of Nissan's financial recovery.

Summary: The Nissan Motor Company said on Wednesday that its top North American sales executive was retiring, the highest-level employee to leave as the company prepares to move its American headquarters from Southern California to Tennessee. At the same time, two of the closest associates of Nissan's chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, were promoted to top positions in its North American operations. It was a sign that Mr. Ghosn, who took responsibility for Nissan's North American operations in 2005, wants his lieutenants in charge. When Mr. Ghosn announced the move in November, he said that the company thought about half its employees might not relocate.


Summary: Jed Connelly, 60, Nissan's senior vice president for sales and marketing refused to move to Tennesse. After Nissan initially announced its plans to move to Tennessee, Mr. Connelly said he had planned to stay. But later on, Mr. Connelly said he decided to hand over his responsibilities to his successor, Brad Bradshaw.

Summary: After Nissan initially announced its plans to move to Tennessee, Mr. Connelly, 60, Nissan's senior vice president for sales and marketing, said he had planned to stay. But on Wednesday, Mr. Connelly said he decided to hand over his responsibilities to his successor, Brad Bradshaw. Calling his decision to retire a 'mutual transition,' Mr. Connelly said that he just felt like it was the right thing to do at the right time.


Summary: Ms. True and Mr. Hecht were indicted in 2003 on the trafficking charges along with Giacomo Medici, an Italian antiquities dealer. Mr. Medici was convicted in 2004.


Summary: Gen. Roberto Conforti, the retired head of the art theft squad, testified that he wrote a letter in 2000 to hundreds of museums around the world, seeking their aid in tracking down works of art that could have been looted in Italy and illegally exported. A copy of General Conforti's letter was found among the papers confiscated from Mr. Hecht's home in Paris, speculating on how it might have made its way there. General Conforti, who retired in 2002, said that cooperation from museums had been slow in coming.

Summary: Gen. Roberto Conforti, the retired head of the art theft squad, testified that he wrote a letter in 2000 to hundreds of museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and museums in Boston and Cleveland and at Princeton University, seeking their aid in tracking down works of art that could have been looted in Italy and illegally exported. A copy of General Conforti's letter was found among the papers confiscated from Mr. Hecht's home in Paris, other investigators said Wednesday, speculating on how it might have made its way there. General Conforti, who retired in 2002, said that cooperation from museums had been slow in coming.


Summary: Ms. Marion True and her co-defendant, the American dealer Robert Hecht, enters its fifth month, prosecutors also called on Italy's art theft police to explain the web that they say links the defendants to tomb robbers and unscrupulous dealers. Mr. Hecht, 86, has sold dozens of antiquities to museums in the United States and abroad. Ms. True and Mr. Hecht were indicted in 2003 on the trafficking charges.

Summary: As the trial of Ms. True and her co-defendant, the American dealer Robert Hecht, enters its fifth month, prosecutors also called on Italy's art theft police to explain the web that they say links the defendants to tomb robbers and unscrupulous dealers. A copy of General Conforti's letter was found among the papers confiscated from Mr. Hecht's home in Paris, other investigators said on Wednesday, speculating on how it might have made its way there. Over the decades, Mr. Hecht, 86, has sold dozens of antiquities to museums in the United States and abroad.


Summary: Italian prosecutors at the trial of Marion True, a former curator at the J. Ms. True and her co-defendant, the American dealer Robert Hecht, enters its fifth month, prosecutors also called on Italy's art theft police to explain the web that they say links the defendants to tomb robbers and unscrupulous dealers. Ms. True and Mr. Hecht were indicted in 2003 on the trafficking charges.

Summary: Italian prosecutors at the trial of Marion True, a former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, who was charged with trafficking in looted antiquities, said the first photograph was taken moments after the fragments were unearthed. As the trial of Ms. True and her co-defendant, the American dealer Robert Hecht, enters its fifth month, prosecutors also called on Italy's art theft police to explain the web that they say links the defendants to tomb robbers and unscrupulous dealers. However, Ms. True and Mr. Hecht were indicted in 2003 on the trafficking charges.


Summary: Imants G. Priede of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland has studied the deep oceans for more than two decades, deploying cameras and other equipment 20,000 feet down near Hawaii, among other places. At a conference several years ago, Dr. Priede talked about the absence of sharks, to the general disbelief of those in attendance. Since then, Dr. Priede and his collaborators have tried to find sharks through trawling, long-line fishing and photography.


Summary: As General Motors sells most of its 21 percent stake in the Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor, providing a cash infusion after huge losses. Suzuki has done well, particularly in emerging markets like China and India. But the sale comes as Suzuki is in the middle of a multi-year $8.6 billion plan to expand production and develop new cars. Suzuki also owns an 11 percent stake in G.M.

Summary: As General Motors sells most of its 21 percent stake in the Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor, providing a cash infusion after huge losses, analysts are wondering if the move will be enough to appease G.M.'s disgruntled shareholders. G.M. will sell about 92 million shares, or a 17.4 percent stake, back to Suzuki for 230 billion yen ($1.98 billion) on Tuesday, the companies said. Suzuki also owns an 11 percent stake in G.M.


Summary: G.M.'s strength has long been in S.U.V.'s and pickup trucks, fuel guzzlers that are falling out of favor with consumers as prices soar at the gas station. Suzuki and G.M. operate a 50-50 joint venture in Ontario that produces S.U.V.'s sold under the Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Suzuki brands.

Summary: General Motors's strength has long been in S.U.V.'s and pickup trucks, fuel guzzlers that are falling out of favor with consumers as prices soar at the gas station. Suzuki and General Motors operate a 50-50 joint venture in Ontario that produces S.U.V.s sold under the Chevrolet, Pontiac and Suzuki brands.


Summary: Troy A. Clarke, president of G.M.'s Asia-Pacific operations, said the sale would bring G.M. a pretax profit of $550 million to $750 million.

Summary: The president of General Motors's Asia-Pacific operations, Troy A. Clarke, said the sale would bring G.M. a pretax profit of $550 million to $750 million.


Summary: Chizuko Satsukawa, a Tokyo-based analyst for Standard & Poor's, wrote in a report that Suzuki's capital needs are strong.

Summary: The Tokyo-based analyst for Standard & Poor's, Chizuko Satsukawa, wrote in a report on Monday that Suzuki's capital needs are strong.


Summary: Troy A. Clarke, president of G.M.'s Asia-Pacific operations, said the sale would bring G.M. a pretax profit of $550 million to $750 million. Mr. Clarke said G.M. was holding onto its 7.9 percent stake in Isuzu for now but seemed to leave open the possibility of a future sale. Mr. Clarke said G.M. decided on the Suzuki sale at a board meeting on Feb. 6. He said the sale would shrink G.M.'s stake in Suzuki back to its level before 1998 when G.M. began increasing its ownership.

Summary: President of General Motors's Asia-Pacific operations, Troy A. Clarke, said the sale would bring General Motors a pretax profit of $550 million to $750 million. On Monday, Mr. Clarke said G.M. was holding onto its 7.9 percent stake in Isuzu for now, but seemed to leave open the possibility of a future sale. Although, he said, that they have not made any decisions on Isuzu but if they do, they will take the same responsible approach by working with them as they have with Suzuki. Mr. Clarke told that G.M. decided on the Suzuki sale at a board meeting on Feb. 6 and the sale would shrink G.M.'s stake in Suzuki back to its level before 1998, when G.M. began increasing its ownership.


Summary: There is no highlighted sentence.


Summary: The legislation, part of a push by some Republicans to re-establish themselves as champions of fiscal restraint, was taking shape as President Bush struck a similar theme on Monday by asking Congress to grant him line-item veto power to eliminate federal spending that he might judge wasteful. Mr. Bush said at a ceremony installing a new chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said that they couldn't be all things to all people when it came to spending the taxpayers' money.

Summary: The legislation, was taking shape as President Bush struck a similar theme on Monday by asking Congress to grant him line-item veto power to eliminate federal spending that he might judge wasteful. Mr. Bush said at a ceremony, that they can't be all things to all people when it comes to spending the taxpayers' money, installing a new chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. But House conservative leaders would go far beyond the president's own budget proposal, illustrating the difficulty the White House and the Republican leadership have had in persuading the caucus to speak with one voice on the matter.


Summary: With Congress heading into a politically perilous budget season, influential House conservatives plan this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years, balance the budget and drastically shrink three cabinet agencies. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow warned Congress that the federal government risked default without an increase in the debt limit and that the Republican-controlled Congress would soon be forced to address that issue. Some moderate Republicans are anxious about additional spending reductions, particularly after Congress enacted nearly $40 billion in cuts last year after a difficult fight. Congress gave President Bill Clinton line-item veto authority in 1996, but the Supreme Court overturned the law, saying it violated the Constitution by giving the president the power to amend legislation.

Summary: With Congress heading into a politically perilous budget season, influential House conservatives plan this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years. The legislation, part of a push by some Republicans to re-establish themselves as champions of fiscal restraint, was taking shape as President Bush asked Congress to grant him line-item veto power to eliminate federal spending that he might judge wasteful. Congress gave President Bill Clinton line-item veto authority in 1996, but the Supreme Court overturned the law, saying it violated the Constitution by giving the president the power to amend legislation.


Summary: It was particularly important for conservatives to lay down a marker because the Senate is facing an imminent vote on whether to increase the statutory debt limit, which will remind the public of the increasing deficits under the Bush administration.

Summary: The officials said it was particularly important for conservatives to lay down a marker because the Senate is facing an imminent vote on whether to increase the statutory debt limit, which will remind the public of the increasing deficits under the Bush administration.


Summary: House conservatives plan this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years, balance the budget and drastically shrink three cabinet agencies. But House conservative leaders would go far beyond the president's own budget proposal, illustrating the difficulty the White House and the Republican leadership have had in persuading the caucus to speak with one voice on the matter. The budget debate could be the first big challenge for Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, who won his position last month with help from House conservatives who will now be looking to him to help hold down spending.

Summary: With Congress heading into a politically perilous budget season, influential House conservatives for planning this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years, balance the budget and drastically contract three cabinet agencies. But House conservative leaders would go far beyond the president's own budget proposal, illustrating the difficulty the White House and the Republican leadership have had in persuading the caucus to speak with one voice on the matter.


Summary: Treasury Secretary John W. Snow warned Congress on Monday that the federal government risked default without an increase in the debt limit and that the Republican-controlled Congress would soon be forced to address that issue.

Summary: Treasury Secretary John W. Snow warned Congress that the federal government risked default without an increase in the debt limit and that the Republican-controlled Congress would soon be forced to address that issue.


Summary: The filmmakers, Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck, spent three years and about $100,000 following what began as a nasty state legislative battle over Mr. DeLay's push to redraw Congressional districts in Texas in 2002. Mr. Birnbaum, 57, of Dallas, a veteran documentary maker who started out in public television, and Mr. Schermbeck, 47, of Lubbock, Tex., a longtime community organizer, said in a telephone interview that they had tried mightily but failed to get Mr. DeLay to return their calls, while the district attorney, Mr. Earle, made himself readily available.

Summary: The filmmakers, Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck, both spent three years and about $100,000 following what began as a nasty state legislative battle over Mr. DeLay's push to redraw Congressional districts in Texas, and mushroomed into a nationally watched partisan standoff, complete with Democratic lawmakers fleeing across state lines. Mr. Birnbaum, whose age is 57, of Dallas, a veteran documentary maker who started out in public television, and Mr. Schermbeck, 47, of Lubbock, Tex., a longtime community organizer, said that they had tried mightily but failed to get Mr. DeLay to return their calls, while the district attorney, Mr. Earle, made himself readily available.


Summary: Mr. Birnbaum, Mr. Schermbeck, both of them said, they had strived for an evenhanded approach, one they had used in their only previous collaboration, a 2003 film for the PBS series ''P.O.V.'' about high school drug testing in Lockney, Texas.

Summary: Nonetheless, they had strived for an evenhanded approach, one they had used in their only previous collaboration, a 2003 film for the PBS series ''P.O.V.'' about high school drug testing in Lockney, Tex.


Summary: It ultimately wound up as a criminal case, with Mr. DeLay and his allies coming into the cross hairs of Ronnie Earle, the Democratic district attorney of Travis County, Tex. It was Mr. Earle's argument that Mr. DeLay had engineered the Republican takeover of the Texas legislature in 2002 by breaking a state law banning companies from donating to individual candidates, essentially laundering tens of thousands of dollars in contributions through the Republican National Committee. Mr. Birnbaum and Mr. Schermbeck insist that Mr. Earle had shared no secrets with them, and that they acted and were treated no differently from any journalists covering the case.

Summary: It ultimately wound up as a criminal case, with Mr. DeLay and his allies coming into the crosshairs of Ronnie Earle, the Democratic district attorney of Travis County, Tex. It was Mr. Earle's argument, in the indictment, that Mr. DeLay had engineered the Republican takeover of the Texas legislature in 2002 by breaking a state law. Mr. Birnbaum and Mr. Schermbeck insist that Mr. Earle had shared no secrets with them and that they acted and were treated no differently from any journalists covering the case.


Summary: The film, ''The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay Stole Congress,'' will be distributed this spring by the Hollywood producer and liberal provocateur Robert Greenwald, whose last release was a scathing attack on Wal-Mart sponsored by a variety of labor unions and other groups critical of the retailing giant. Mr. Greenwald said in an interview, said that it will not follow a traditional theatrical rollout but will instead open in a few cities before being made widely available on DVD, as was the Wal-Mart movie. Mr. Greenwald had just distributed his Wal-Mart movie through a grass-roots campaign of house parties and internet sales of DVD's -- and scored a huge publicity coup when Wal-Mart attacked him -- so he proposed a similar strategy for the DeLay film.

Summary: The Hollywood producer and liberal provocateur Robert Greenwald, will be distributing the film, ''The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay Stole Congress'', whose last release was a scathing attack on Wal-Mart sponsored by a variety of labor unions and other groups critical of the retailing giant. It will not follow a traditional theatrical rollout but will instead open in a few cities before being made widely available on DVD, as was the Wal-Mart movie, Mr. Greenwald said that.


Summary: Robert Greenwald is the hollywood producer and liberal provocateur, will be distributed the film, ''The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay Stole Congress,'' whose last release was a scathing attack on Wal-Mart sponsored by a variety of labor unions and other groups critical of the retailing giant. Mr. Greenwald said in an interview that it will not follow a traditional theatrical rollout but will instead open in a few cities before being made widely available on DVD, as was the Wal-Mart movie. An important aspect of the release plan is to organize hundreds, of house parties in May and June at which the movie will be shown, Mr. Greenwald said.

Summary: The film, ''The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay Stole Congress,'' will be distributed this spring by the Hollywood producer and liberal provocateur Robert Greenwald. In California last fall, Mr. Greenwald watched the coverage of the DeLay indictment unfold and wondered if there wasn't a good documentary in it. But Mr. Greenwald had just distributed his Wal-Mart movie through a grass-roots campaign of house parties and internet sales of DVDs.


Summary: Dick DeGuerin who is the lawyer of Mr. DeLay called the movie, an early version of which he had seen, as a ''hatchet job,'' and said he had refused to sit down with the filmmakers for an interview. (Mr. DeGuerin appears on camera in public questioning sessions with the news media.)

Summary: Mr. DeLay's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, called the movie, an early version of which he had seen, a ''hatchet job,'' and said he had refused to sit down with the filmmakers for an interview. Mr. DeGuerin maintained that the movie puts the lie to Ronnie Earle's protestations for a year, before the indictment came down on DeLay, that DeLay was not a target. He added in truth, all the time he was cooperating with the moviemakers. But Mr. DeGuerin said that he had not followed through on a threat to subpoena the filmmakers' outtakes and that he doubted the movie would become a factor at trial.


Summary: Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck, they are the film makers, spent three years and about $100,000 following what began as a nasty state legislative battle over Mr. DeLay's push to redraw Congressional districts in Texas, and spread into a nationally watched partisan standoff, complete with Democratic lawmakers fleeing across state lines. Mr. Birnbaum, aged 57, of Dallas, a veteran documentary maker who started out in public television, and Mr. Schermbeck, who is 47, of Lubbock, Texas, a longtime community organizer, said in an interview that they had tried mightily but failed to get Mr. DeLay to return their calls, while, Mr. Earle, the district attorney, made himself readily available. Mr. Schermbeck said that with Tom DeLay you're either in his camp or you're not.

Summary: The filmmakers, Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck spent three years and about $100,000 following Mr. DeLay's push to redraw Congressional districts in Texas in 2002. Mr. Birnbaum, 57, of Dallas, a veteran documentary maker who started out in public television, and Mr. Schermbeck, 47, of Lubbock, Tex., a longtime community organizer, said they had tried mightily but failed to get Mr. DeLay to return their calls, while the district attorney, Mr. Earle, made himself readily available. Mr. Birnbaum and Mr. Schermbeck insist that Mr. Earle had shared no secrets with them and that they acted and were treated no differently from any journalists covering the case.


Summary: A host of liberal organizations in Texas and nationwide, including People for the American Way, Democracy for America, and the Pacifica radio station in Houston, are expected to sponsor the film's release.

Summary: A host of liberal organizations in Texas and nationwide, including People for the American Way, Democracy for America and the Pacifica radio station in Houston, they are expected to sponsor the film's release.


Summary: A documentary about the Texas criminal investigation that led to the indictment of Representative Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, on campaign fund-raising charges is being put to use by Mr. DeLay's political opponents. It was Mr. Earle's argument, in the indictment, that Mr. DeLay had engineered the Republican takeover of the Texas legislature in 2002 by breaking a state law banning companies from donating to individual candidates. It is the film's argument that Mr. DeLay had a grander purpose in mind using the newly Republican-run legislature to redraw the state's Congressional map, erasing five seats held by Democrats despite Republican majorities, causing a 10-vote shift in the House, and thereby giving Republicans a solid majority with which to enact corporate-friendly federal legislation.

Summary: A documentary about the Texas criminal investigation which led to the indictment of Representative Tom DeLay, who is the former House majority leader, on campaign fund-raising charges is being put to use by Mr. DeLay's political opponents in an attempt to bring down him. The distribution strategy is to be detailed on the primary day in Texas as a token of welcome gift to Mr. DeLay, he said. Mr. DeLay's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, called the movie, an early version of which he had seen, a hatchet job, and said he had refused to sit down with the filmmakers for an interview.


Summary: Kevin O'Toole and Bill Murphy have spent their free time searching for a friend who walked out of a dockside bar in East Rockaway on Long Island and went missing. Officer O'Toole, who works for the Nassau County Police Department, and Mr. Murphy, a mason, were looking for Thomas Fasciglione, 50, a car cleaner for Metro-North Railroad. Officer O'Toole and Mr. Murphy had very little hope that they would find Mr. Fasciglione alive.

Summary: Kevin O'Toole and Bill Murphy have spent their free time searching for a friend who walked out of a dockside bar in East Rockaway on Long Island on Jan. 28 and vanished into the night. At 10:30 a.m., as they drove past the junction of Rockaway and Brookville Boulevards, along the marshes beside the northeastern edge of Kennedy International Airport, Officer O'Toole and Mr. Murphy spotted a black trash bag in the weeds. Officer O'Toole was still explaining to New York City detectives how he came to find the body in the bag in Queens when his phone rang.


Thomas Fasciglione
Joan Fasciglione
Fasciglione

Summary: Officer O'Toole, who works for the Nassau County Police Department, and Mr. Murphy, a mason, were looking for Thomas Fasciglione, 50, a car cleaner for Metro-North Railroad.  Tommy was the guy floating in the bay. It is too early to tell what happened to Mr. Fasciglione, even to tell whether he committed suicide, died of natural causes or was killed, the police said. Mr. Fasciglione, who was single and did not have children, stumbled onto Althouse Avenue around 1:30 a.m., carrying a bag of groceries in his hands, Mr. Muxie said.

Summary: Officer O'Toole, who works for the Nassau County Police Department, and Mr. Murphy, a mason, were looking for Thomas Fasciglione, 50, a car cleaner for Metro-North Railroad who went for a walk on Long Island and then disappeared. Officer O'Toole and Mr. Murphy had very little hope that they would find Mr. Fasciglione alive. At Pier 101 Tavern, the bar in East Rockaway where Mr. Fasciglione was last seen, someone spotted a body in the bay. It could be that he fell in the water and drowned, Mr. Fasciglione looked tipsy when he left Pier 101 Tavern, said the bartender, Kenneth Muxie. According to his family and friends, he never made it home.


Summary: Tommy was the guy floating in the bay. It is too early to tell what happened to Mr. Fasciglione, even to tell whether he committed suicide, died of natural causes or was killed, the police said. He said that they finished with the police in Queens, they got back and found out it was Tommy.

Summary: Officer O'Toole, who works for the Nassau County Police Department, and Mr. Murphy, a mason, were looking for Thomas Fasciglione, 50, a car cleaner for Metro-North Railroad. Officer O'Toole and Mr. Murphy had very little hope that they would find Mr. Fasciglione alive, they said. After finishing with the police in Queens, they got back and found out it was Tommy. It is too early to tell what happened to Mr. Fasciglione, even to tell whether he committed suicide, died of natural causes, or was killed, the police said.


Summary: Kevin O'Toole and Bill Murphy have spent their free time searching for a friend who walked out of a dockside bar in East Rockaway.  Officer O'Toole, works in Nassau County Police Department, and Mr. Murphy, a mason, were looking for Thomas Fasciglione, age is 50, a car cleaner for Metro-North Railroad. They said that deep down they had a very little hope that they will find their friend alive.


Summary: Vermont's governor, Jim Douglas, is treating the situation like a crisis. He proposes making Vermont the ''Silicon Valley'' of environmental technology companies lure businesses and workers; giving college scholarships requiring students to stay in Vermont. The worker shortage recently forced Mr. Douglas to say he would not drive out illegal immigrants working on Vermont's dairy farms. Some of Governor Douglas's proposals are controversial, like scholarships to be financed with the tobacco settlement money, which some legislators want for health care.

Summary: Mr. Douglas proposes making Vermont the ''Silicon Valley'' of environmental technology companies to lure businesses and workers; giving college scholarships requiring students to stay in Vermont for three years after graduating; relaxing once-sacrosanct environmentally driven building restrictions in some areas to encourage more housing. For someone who's young and trying to make a name for himself, it's just not really the best environment. Governor Douglas said one executive had told him that his business was growing, his orders were increasing, my markets were branching out. Mr. Douglas said that he respected the laws of the United States, of course.


Summary: Anne DeBonis, co-president of Poultney's Chamber of Commerce, said two of her three sons had left Vermont.

Summary: Anne DeBonis, co-president of Poultney's Chamber of Commerce, said that those people had several kids -- they were in Texas now visiting those children.


Summary: Ray Pentkowski, the principal of Poultney Elementary School, published an unusual request in the school newsletter in which he urged parents to have more babies. His school, down to 208 children, has lost a third of its student population since 1999 and must cut staff levels. Poultney, a town of 3,600 bordering New York, is just one example.

Summary: Ray Pentkowski, the principal of Poultney Elementary School, published an unusual request in the school newsletter. His school, down to 208 children, has lost a third of its student population since 1999 and must cut staff levels for the first time in my memory. Poultney, a town of 3,600 bordering New York, is just one example of a situation that increasingly alarms many in Vermont.


Summary: Arthur Woolf, an economist at the University of Vermont, said that by 2030, there would be only two working-age Vermonters for every retiree. Professor Woolf said that the back-to-the-land influx of the 1960's, 70's and 80's, which once had Vermont growing faster than the country as a whole, has dissipated. Professor Woolf said that If he lived in New York or Boston and he wanted to get away from it all, these days it's just as cheap to fly out to Boise, Idaho, or Montana.

Summary: Arthur Woolf, an economist at the University of Vermont, said that by 2030, there would be only two working-age Vermonters for every retiree. The back-to-the-land influx of the 1960's, 70's and 80's, which once had Vermont growing faster than the country as a whole, has dissipated. Vermont may have lost some cachet for the people often referred to as ''flatlanders.'' Professor Woolf said that if anyone live in New York or Boston and if the person want to get away from it all, these days it's just as cheap to fly out to Boise, Idaho, or Montana.


Summary: Roger Meiners, the co-author of ''Faulty Towers,'' a critique of academia, doesn't think that eliminating tenure would make much difference in how university administrators behaved. Mr. Meiners also added that any dean who would fire anyone would have a reputation as a nasty person and could never advance in academic administration.


Summary: Lawrence Summers was ostensibly in charge of Harvard, but he had little power to fire or hire anyone. Summers could veto new hires and try to push departments in new directions. We'd be as genuinely puzzled as the Harvard professors who wrote to me after I mentioned an issue that arose under Summers: the complaint that the history department didn't offer a traditional survey course on the American Revolution and the writing of the Constitution.

Summary: Lawrence Summers was ostensibly in charge of Harvard, but he had little power to fire or hire anyone. Summers could veto new hires and try to push departments in new directions -- but once the faculty got annoyed, he was out of a job.


Summary: Mr. Vallone told Paul B. Powers, the executive deputy to the commission's chairman, said that as representatives of people who had to walk through minefields of stray voltage and exploding manhole covers, they believed he had completely abdicated his responsibility. Mr. Powers replied that the commission, a regulatory and rate-setting body, did not have the resources to conduct extensive stray-voltage tests.

Summary: Paul B. Powers, the executive deputy to the commission's chairman was accused of abdicated his responsibility by Mr. Vallone. Mr. Powers replied that the commission, a regulatory and rate-setting body, did not have the resources to conduct extensive stray-voltage tests.


Summary: Consolidated Edison, responding to testing requirements imposed after a woman was electrocuted while walking her dog in the East Village in 2004, found 1,214 instances of stray voltage during a yearlong examination of electrical equipment on city streets. Five days later, a dog was electrocuted on a patch of concrete in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where Con Ed had continued to supply electricity to a nonexistent streetlight. Mr. Miksad said that in addition to the almost 730,000 tests conducted last year, Con Ed also conducted more than 150,000 tests for stray voltage during its routine utility work.

Summary: Consolidated Edison, responding to testing requirements imposed after a woman was electrocuted while walking her dog in the East Village in 2004, found 1,214 instances of stray voltage during a yearlong examination of electrical equipment on city streets, officials disclosed at a City Council hearing. John F. Miksad, is the senior vice president for electric operations at Consolidated Edison, said that the company is expected to spend $100 million this year toward reducing the risk of stray voltage. Later, Mr. Vallone, a Queens Democrat, accused Con Ed of being slow to act.


Summary: John F. Miksad, who is the senior vice president for electric operations at Consolidated Edison, said that the company is expected to spend $100 million this year toward reducing the risk of stray voltage. After 5 days, a dog was electrocuted on a patch of concrete in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where Con Ed had continued to supply electricity to a nonexistent streetlight. Later, Mr. Vallone, a Queens Democrat, accused Con Ed for being slow to act.

Summary: Consolidated Edison, responding to testing requirements imposed after a woman was electrocuted, found 1,214 instances of stray voltage during a yearlong examination of electrical equipment on city streets, officials disclosed at City Council.  A few days later a dog was also electrocuted on a patch of concrete in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where Con Ed had continued to supply electricity to a nonexistent streetlight. Con Ed and the city are installing 5,000 isolation transformers, devices that prevent current from flowing through a streetlight if the wiring to the light fails.


Summary: Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., who attempted a 2004 law that required the city's Department of Transportation to check at least 250 randomly selected sites for stray voltage every year, said the Public Service Commission should conduct independent tests beyond those of Con Ed and the city agency.

Summary: Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., who championed a 2004 law that required the city's Department of Transportation to check at least 250 randomly selected sites for stray voltage every year, said the Public Service Commission should conduct independent tests beyond those of Con Ed and the city agency.


Summary: Consolidated Edison, responding to testing requirements imposed after a woman was electrocuted while walking her dog in the East Village in 2004, found 1,214 instances of stray voltage during a yearlong examination of electrical equipment on city streets, officials disclosed at a City Council hearing yesterday. John F. Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations at Consolidated Edison, said the company which expected to spend $100 million this year toward reducing the risk of stray voltage.


Summary: Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., who promoted the 2004 law that required the city's Department of Transportation to check at least 250 randomly selected sites for stray voltage per year, said the Public Service Commission should conduct independent tests beyond those of Con Ed and the city agency. Mr. Vallone told Paul B. Powers, the executive deputy to the commission's chairman that as the representatives of people who have to walk through minefields of stray voltage and exploding manhole covers, they all believe that he has completely abdicated your responsibility.

Summary: Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., who championed a 2004 law that required the city's Department of Transportation to check at least 250 randomly selected sites for stray voltage every year, said the Public Service Commission should conduct independent tests beyond those of Con Ed and the city agency. Mr. Vallone told Paul B. Powers, the executive deputy to the commission's chairman, that as representatives of people who have to walk through minefields of stray voltage and exploding manhole covers, they believe he has completely abdicated his responsibility. Later, Mr. Vallone, a Queens Democrat, accused Con Ed of being slow to act.


Summary: John F. Miksad, senior vice president at Consolidated Edison, said that the company is expecting to spend $100 million this year toward reducing the risk of stray voltage. He also said at the hearing that while there is always some risk involved in delivering energy, they work diligently to do it as safely as humanly possible. He said that utility workers arrived at the scene within 20 minutes but noted that stray voltage is often intermittent.

Summary: John F. Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations at Consolidated Edison, said the company expected to spend $100 million this year toward reducing the risk of stray voltage. He said at the hearing that while there is always some risk involved in delivering energy, they work diligently to do it as safely as humanly possible. Stray voltage was detected in an underground device four feet below the spot where the boy reported the shock, but not on the metal plate itself, Mr. Miksad added. He also said that utility workers arrived at the scene within 20 minutes but noted that stray voltage is often intermittent.


Summary: Six years ago in the Washington Monthly, Malcolm Gladwell faced off against Adam Gopnik, in a debate over Canada's single-payer health care system. Mr. Gopnik favored it; and he opposed it vigorously. He said that it has achieved it at a price, and that is quality of care. Mr. Gladwell noted that the blogosphere has, for some mysterious reason, picked up on the debate, he noticed in one of the writings.

Summary: Six years ago in the Washington Monthly, Malcolm Gladwell faced off against Adam Gopnik, his fellow New Yorker writer, in a debate over Canada's single-payer health care system. Mr. Gopnik favored it; Mr. Gladwell opposed it vigorously. He said that Canada has achieved a wonderful thing, which is universal health care coverage, but it has achieved it at a price, and that is quality of care.


Summary: Joshua Farley, an ecological economist said in an interview that everything the economic system whatever produces ultimately returns to the ecosystem as waste. But according to Mr. Farley, it puts heavy emphasis on sustainability, and it introduces factors into economic analysis that traditionalists generally ignore to the peril of all of us. He says that the dominant economic paradigm strives for ever-increasing economic growth.

Summary: That idea, which puts increases in productivity into new prospective, comes from Joshua Farley, an 'ecological economist' who was interviewed this week on WorldChanging.com. According to Mr. Farley, as the name hints, it puts heavy emphasis on sustainability, and it introduces factors into economic analysis that traditionalists generally ignore. He says that the dominant economic paradigm strives for ever-increasing economic growth and not only is this impossible on a finite planet, but growing evidence suggests that beyond a certain point, more material consumption does nothing to make us better off. He adds that resource scarcity lies at the heart of his discipline.


Summary: Allen B. Ury writes in Fade In that, over the past 20 years, the number of major award nominations given to traditional 'studio' films has dropped by more than 50 percent, while the number of nominations and awards bestowed upon films produced by independents, 'minimajors' and overseas production companies has gone through the roof. To point out the extent of the trend, Mr. Ury breaks the last two decades into two 10-year periods. But in the last decade, studio films had just 153 nominations and 33 wins, losing out to films from the studios which Mr. Ury calls minimajors, New Line and Miramax, for example -- and independent and foreign films

Summary: Over the past 20 years, the number of major award nominations given to traditional 'studio' films has dropped by more than 50 percent, while the number of nominations and awards bestowed upon films produced by independents, and overseas production has increased drastically, writes Allen B. Ury in Fade In. To point out the extent of the trend, Mr. Ury breaks the last two decades into two 10-year periods. But in the last decade, studio films had just 153 nominations (38 percent) and 33 wins (41 percent), losing out to films from the overseas studios.


Summary: There is Martha Ruiz, who is a director in the tax department of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and on the cover of Working Mother because as she knows Oscar. Michelle Roberts writes that this year they will mark Martha's fourth on the Oscar team. Ruiz, who now has an 18-month-old daughter, says that he was standing next to Oprah Winfrey, trying to be calm and cool on the outside

Summary: Martha Ruiz, a director in the tax department of PricewaterhouseCoopers, is on the cover of Working Mother because "she knows Oscar." This year marks Martha's fourth on the Oscar team, as written by Michelle Roberts. Ruiz is invited to attend the Oscar festivities. When asked about her experience on the red carpet last year, Ruiz, who now has an 18-month-old daughter, said that she was standing next to Oprah Winfrey, trying to be calm and cool on the outside, but what kept popping into her head was whether or not her husband would be able to get the baby to sleep without her being there.


Summary: Horacio E. Gutiérrez, Microsoft's associate general counsel in Europe, said there was collusion against the company. ''The commission, the trustee and Microsoft's adversaries were secretly collaborating throughout the fall of 2005 in a manner inconsistent with the commission's role as neutral regulator and the trustee's role as independent monitor, said by Mr. Gutiérrez. He also said that the commission waited for almost two days before Microsoft's deadline to provide copies of certain correspondence between the commission and four American companies who have long been Microsoft's adversaries in various judicial and regulatory proceedings.

Summary: In a more pointed statement Thursday, Horacio E. Gutiérrez, Microsoft's associate general counsel in Europe, said there was collusion against the company. He added that the commission, the trustee and Microsoft's adversaries were secretly collaborating throughout the fall of 2005 in a manner inconsistent with the commission's role as neutral regulator and the trustee's role as independent monitor. He felt compelled to submit a second written response to the commission because some documents concerning the case were not made available to Microsoft until two days before the Feb. 15 deadline for written responses. He also said that the commission waited until two days before Microsoft's deadline to provide copies of certain correspondence between the commission and four American companies who have long been Microsoft's adversaries in various judicial and regulatory proceedings.


Summary: Microsoft's battle with the European Commission escalated on Thursday, as the company accused the commission for conspiring against its competitors in the software market and of again withholding documents it says are crucial to its defense in an antitrust case. With the threat of daily fines of 2 million euros hanging over it, This company is facing a new suit brought just before Christmas, when the commission accused the company of failing to honor the antitrust ruling made in March 2004. Two weeks ago, Microsoft responded to the accusations, and claims that it was abiding by the 2004 ruling but had been denied the chance to fully defend itself.

Summary: Microsoft's battle with the European Commission escalated Thursday, as the company accused the commission of colluding with its competitors in the software market and of again withholding documents it says are crucial to its defense in an antitrust case. With the threat of daily fines of 2 million euros, Microsoft is facing a new suit brought before Christmas, when the commission accused the company of failing to honor the antitrust ruling made in March 2004. In that ruling, the commission found the company guilty of monopoly abuse and ordered it to change the way it sold its software in Europe. Two weeks ago, Microsoft responded to the accusations, claiming it was abiding by the 2004 ruling but had been denied the chance to fully defend itself. The commission will hold hearings on March 30 and 31 in Brussels to give Microsoft another opportunity to argue its case.


Summary: Microsoft's battle with the European Commission escalated, as the company accused the commission of colluding with its competitors in the software market and of again withholding documents it says are crucial to its defense in an antitrust case. With the threat of daily fines of 2 million euros hanging over it, Microsoft is facing a new suit brought just before Christmas, when the commission accused the company of failing to honor the antitrust ruling made in March 2004. In that ruling, the commission found the company is guilty of monopoly abuse and ordered it to change the way it sold its software in Europe.

Summary: Microsoft's battle with the European Commission escalated, as the company accused the commission of colluding with its competitors in the software market and of again withholding documents it says are crucial to its defense in an antitrust case. With the threat of daily fines of 2 million euros hanging over it, Microsoft is facing a new suit brought just before Christmas, when the commission accused the company of failing to honor the antitrust ruling made in March 2004. In that ruling, the commission found the company guilty of monopoly abuse and ordered it to change the way it sold its software in Europe. The commission acknowledged receipt of Microsoft's second written response, but declined to comment on it or on whether it would be admissible given that it was filed more than two weeks past the deadline.


Summary: Partners in the International Space Station agreed Thursday to launch European and Japanese components earlier than originally planned to ensure they were functioning by 2010, when the orbiting space laboratory is to be fully assembled.

Summary: Partners in the International Space Station agreed to launch European and Japanese components earlier than originally planned to ensure they were functioning by 2010, when the orbiting space laboratory is to be fully assembled.


Summary: The NASA administrator, Michael D. Griffin, said at a news conference after the meeting that the agency planned 16 more flights of the space shuttle to finish the station by the end of the decade. Mr. Griffin said the adjusted sequence for building the station shifted priorities, moving up the completion of the station's platform. Even though some components will be dropped and a new assembly schedule has been introduced, Mr. Griffin said the completed station would do what it was originally intended to do.

Summary: Michael D. Griffin, the NASA administrator, said the agency planned 16 more flights of the space shuttle to finish the station by the end of the decade. He said the adjusted sequence for building the station shifted priorities, moving up the completion of the station's platform. He also said that they don't like that.


Summary: One of NASA's spacecrafts, that is large enough to carry major station components, is Discovery. A space shuttle has flown once since the Columbia accident; the fleet was grounded again after the Discovery's mission in July. In its launching, more foam insulation fell from its external fuel tank than expected.

Summary: NASA's three shuttles are Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour and they are the only spacecraft large enough to carry major station components. A space shuttle has flown once since the Columbia accident; the fleet was grounded again after the Discovery's mission.


Summary: The NASA administrator, Michael D. Griffin, said at a news conference after the meeting, that the agency planned 16 more flights of the space shuttle to finish the station by the end of the decade. NASA's three shuttles, Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour are the only spacecraft large enough to carry major station components. NASA said station construction flights could resume as early as August, if it is determined that the shuttle could be used safely.

Summary: Michael D. Griffin, the NASA administrator, said the agency planned 16 more flights of the space shuttle to finish the station by the end of the decade. NASA's three shuttles are Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour are the only spacecraft large enough to carry major station components. NASA said station construction flights could resume as early as possible, if it is determined that the shuttle could be used safely.


Summary: Arturo Bermea, the vice president for operations at the mine, said that it was a sudden accumulation of gas in the mine and wondered if the mining machine with the faulty switch was in use at the time of the explosion although three mining machines were chewing through coal walls in different tunnels when the accident occurred and all were in good working order.

Summary: Arturo Bermea, the vice president for operations at the mine said it was a sudden accumulation of gas in the mine. Mr. Bermea said it could take weeks or even months to recover the bodies. Mr. Bermea said he did not know if the mining machine with the faulty switch was in use at the time of the explosion.


Summary: José Angel Guzmán lived with his wife, Norma Vitela, four children and a daughter-in-law in a two-bedroom house he was buying from the mining company. The third child, David, has cerebral palsy, a condition the family lacks the resources to treat.


Summary: Kenneth Ely, a retired Mine Safety and Health Administration official from the United States who is working as a consultant for the operators, said that the detonation sent a shock wave through the mine, causing cave-ins all along a one-and-three-quarter-mile-long shaft. He also added that since there are still likely to be smoldering embers from the blast pumping fresh air into the shaft, which now has high levels of methane, would create the right mixture of oxygen and gas for a second explosion. Facing a crowd of grim relatives of the miners on Wednesday night, Mr. Ely, a tall man from Alabama, said the only option was to seal the shaft off near the entrance, establish a flow of fresh air into that area and then reopen the main shaft one section at a time.

Summary: The detonation sent a shock wave through the mine, causing cave-ins all along a one-and-three-quarter-mile-long shaft, said Kenneth Ely, a retired Mine Safety and Health Administration official from the United States. Because there are still likely to be smoldering embers from the blast, Mr. Ely said, pumping fresh air into the shaft, which now has high levels of methane, would create the right mixture of oxygen and gas for a second explosion. Mr. Ely, said the only option was to seal the shaft off near the entrance, establish a flow of fresh air into that area and then reopen the main shaft one section at a time.


Summary: President Vicente Fox has promised to get to the bottom of what went wrong at the mine, while Humberto Moreira, governor of Coahuila State, where the mine is, has accused the federal government of mishandling the rescue attempt and has ordered his prosecutors to investigate.

Summary: President Vicente Fox has promised to get to the bottom of what went wrong, while Humberto Moreira, governor of Coahuila State, where the mine is, has accused the federal government of mishandling the rescue attempt and has ordered his prosecutors to investigate. The Fox administration has tried to change the law, but Congress has resisted.


María Luisa Martínez
José Alfredo Ordoñez Martínez
Martínez

Summary: José Alfredo Ordoñez Martínez, 25, made about $45 a week. He had grown up fatherless in a rundown section of Palaú, never finished the sixth grade and felt lucky to land a job as a contract worker at the mine nine months ago, said his wife, María Luisa Martínez, 24.

Summary: José Alfredo Ordoñez Martínez, 25, made about $45 a week. He had grown up fatherless in Palaú, never finished the sixth grade and felt lucky to land a job as a contract worker at the mine, said his wife, María Luisa Martínez, 24. They lived with their 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter in a one-room house with a latrine behind it on a dirt road.


Summary: Judge Bonnie Lewman Sabraw, who is presiding over the nonjury trial in state court here, is expected to issue a ruling after receiving briefs from both sides over the next two weeks. In a ruling in November, Judge Sabraw said that since ballot measures reflected the will of the voters, they could not be easily invalidated. She said the plaintiffs had so far not shown that Proposition 71 was clearly, positively and unmistakenly unconstitutional. The decision in this case is likely to be appealed, no matter which side wins.

Summary: Judge Bonnie Lewman Sabraw, who is presiding over the nonjury trial in state court here, is expected to issue a ruling. In a ruling, Judge Sabraw said that since ballot measures reflected the will of the voters, they could not be easily invalidated. She said the plaintiffs had so far not shown that Proposition 71 was clearly, positively, and unmistakenly unconstitutional. The decision, in this case, is likely to be appealed.


Summary: Robert N. Klein, the chairman of the institute's board, said here Wednesday that he was close to securing $50 million in bridge financing from philanthropists to tide things over until the litigation is resolved and to start financing research and that it might take 12 to 18 months to resolve the litigation.

Summary: Robert N. Klein, the chairman of the institute's board, said that he was close to securing $50 million in bridge financing from philanthropists to tide things over until the litigation is resolved. But the plaintiffs, who had said before the trial began that they might call more than 70 witnesses, called only Mr. Klein.


Summary: Jean Dreze, an economist and leading advocate of free lunch programs in India, which now serve more than 100 million primary-school students, said that if the children are fed well, they will all be there.

Summary: Jean Dreze, an economist and leading advocate of free lunch programs in India, which now serve more than 100 million primary-school students said children need to be fed well.


Summary: Meera Shekar, the lead author of the report, who described feeding programs as costly and vulnerable to corruption, said that one gets more bang for ones buck without the food. She added that India would've been more powerful if all these kids were not malnourished and could participate fully.

Summary: Meera Shekar, the lead author of the report, described feeding programs as costly and vulnerable to corruption.


Summary: Amina, a Dagestani operating a stand of pickled vegetables inside the market on Thursday, said that they do not like Moscow very much, they don't like the way they are greeted in Moscow, and the attitudes of Muscovites. Amina, who was trained as a schoolteacher added that there are no jobs for them in their professions in Dagestan, so they came to Moscow.

Summary: Amina, a Dagestani operating a stand of pickled vegetables inside the market said they didn't like Moscow. But as there were no jobs in her country they came here, Amina, trained as a schoolteacher, was wary of the authorities.


Summary: Gov. George E. Pataki continues to negotiate with legislative leaders from his hospital bed. Emboldened by a 2004 Court of Appeals ruling, Mr. Pataki has been using appropriations bills attached to his budget to rewrite existing law by himself on topics from school aid to Medicaid to environmental policy. But on the other hand, legislative leaders say Mr. Pataki has tilted the balance of power too far in his direction, creating what has become one of the primary stumbling blocks to budget deals' getting done on time.

Summary: George E. Pataki continues to negotiate with legislative leaders. Emboldened by a 2004 Court of Appeals ruling, Mr. Pataki has been using appropriations bills attached to his budget to rewrite existing law by himself on various policies. Mr. Pataki's most recent budget is one of his broadest proposed rewrites of state law. Mr. Pataki's proposed budget would bypass the Legislature in deciding how to allocate more than $1 billion worth of federal aid to needy families and would keep for himself the authority to disperse $350 million of domestic security funds.


Summary: Testifying before a House subcommittee on government reform, Walter Cruickshank, deputy director of the Minerals Management Service, defended the government's effort to expand oil and gas production and to collect nearly $10 billion in royalties each year. Mr. Cruickshank said the disparities could be explained by declining gas production, changes in the pattern of production and huge corrections, often totaling billions of dollars a year, in the reports that oil and gas companies file with the government. Presenting lawmakers with two dozen pages of charts and graphs, Mr. Cruickshank said that if nothing had changed since 2001, the government would have collected $1.3 billion more in 2005 than it had.

Summary: Walter Cruickshank, the deputy director of the Minerals Management Service, said that What if he has concluded that there was no affirmative policy decision? which leases out tens of millions of acres of federal land and coastal waters to energy companies. Testifying before a House subcommittee on government reform, Mr. Cruickshank defended the government's effort to expand oil and gas production and to collect nearly $10 billion in royalties each year. Mr. Cruickshank said the disparities could be explained by declining gas production, changes in the pattern of production and huge corrections, often totaling billions of dollars a year, in the reports that oil and gas companies file with the government.


Skilling
Mr. Skilling
Jeffrey K. Skilling

Summary: Despite intense questioning by a defense lawyer, the former head of Enron's Energy Services retail unit insisted Wednesday that Jeffrey K. Skilling should have known he was committing a crime by lying about a questionable accounting move. David W. Delainey testified on Tuesday about a March 29, 2001, meeting with top managers where he said Mr. Skilling signed off on a plan to move the troubled contracts. His account supported prosecutors' contention that Mr. Skilling was involved in a criminal conspiracy intended to mislead investors about serious problems in the unit.

Summary: The former head of Enron's Energy Services retail unit insisted that Jeffrey K. Skilling should have known he was committing a crime by lying about a questionable accounting move. His account supported prosecutors' contention that Mr. Skilling was involved in a criminal conspiracy intended to mislead investors about serious problems in the unit. Mr. Delainey testified on Tuesday about a meeting with top managers where he said Mr. Skilling signed off on a plan to move the troubled contracts.


Summary: David W. Delainey is the former Enron executive, who calmly answered repeated questioning by Daniel Petrocelli, the lead lawyer for Mr. Skilling, a former Enron chief executive. He gave more details surrounding the shift of at least $200 million in retail trading losses in the spring of 2001. Further on Tuesday, his description of the accounting shift proved to be some of the most devastating testimony to date in the five-week-old trial. Under questioning by Mr. Petrocelli, Mr. Delainey refused to say that the reorganization was proper and done for some ''efficiency'' reasons, as Mr. Skilling later portrayed it.

Summary: The former Enron executive, David W. Delainey, was questioned by Daniel Petrocelli, lead lawyer for Mr. Skilling. Mr. Delainey gave more details surrounding the shift of at least $200 million in retail trading losses in the spring of 2001. Mr. Delainey testified about a meeting with top managers where he said Mr. Skilling signed off on a plan to move the troubled contracts. Mr. Delainey said that he considered the meeting the start of a conspiracy and that the people there, including the chief accounting officer, Richard Causey, should have known they were agreeing to a crime. Mr. Delainey has pleaded guilty to insider trading and is cooperating with prosecutors.


Summary: Prosecutors said Wednesday that Andrew S. Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer, would testify as early as Monday. Mr. Fastow pleaded guilty to conspiracy, admitting to orchestrating schemes to hide Enron debt and inflate profit while enriching himself with millions. He agreed to serve a 10-year prison sentence.

Summary: Prosecutors said on Wednesday that the Enron's former chief financial officer, Andrew S. Fastow, would testify as early as Monday. Mr. Fastow has claimed guilty to conspiracy, admitting to orchestrating schemes to hide Enron debt and inflate profit while enriching himself with millions. He agreed his fault and ready to serve a 10-year prison sentence.


Summary: The former Enron executive, David W. Delainey, calmly weathered repeated questioning by Daniel Petrocelli, lead lawyer for Mr. Skilling, a former Enron chief executive. Under questioning by Mr. Petrocelli, Mr. Delainey refused to say that the reorganization was proper and done for ''efficiency'' reasons, as Mr. Skilling later portrayed it.

Summary: The former Enron executive, David W. Delainey, calmly handled repeated questioning by lead lawyer for Mr. Skilling, named Daniel Petrocelli, a former Enron chief executive. Under questioning by Mr. Petrocelli, he refused to say that the reorganization was proper and done for ''efficiency'' reasons, as Mr. Skilling later depicted it.


Summary: Mr. Delainey, along with Kenneth D. Rice, who led Enron's broadband unit, is the highest-ranking former executive to testify so far in the trial of Mr. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay, Enron's founder.

Summary: Mr. Delainey, along with Kenneth D. Rice, said that it was as brazen as it got, who led Enron's broadband unit, is the highest-ranking former executive to testify so far in the trial of the both Mr. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay, as they are Enron's founder.


Summary: The former head of Enron's Energy Services retail unit insisted Wednesday that Jeffrey K. Skilling should have known he was committing a crime by lying about a questionable accounting move. Mr. Delainey acknowledged that he also lied about the real reason for the reorganization of the retail unit to his employees, the Enron board and, later, to federal investigators. Enron managers discovered that the company faced more than $200 million in losses, Mr. Causey came up with a plan to shift the problem contracts into Enron's wholesale energy division.

Summary: In spite of questioning by a defense lawyer, the former head of Enron's Energy Services retail unit insisted that Jeffrey K. Skilling should have known he committed a crime by lying about a questionable accounting move. The former Enron's Energy Services executive, David W. Delainey, calmly handled repeated questioning by Daniel Petrocelli, who is the lead lawyer for Mr. Skilling, a former Enron chief executive. But Mr. Delainey acknowledged that he also lied about the real reason for the reorganization of the retail unit to his employees, the Enron board and, later, to federal investigators.


Summary: Mr. Delainey, along with Kenneth D. Rice, who led Enron's broadband unit, is the highest-ranking former executive to testify so far in the trial of Mr. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay. They are charged with conspiring to defraud Enron by lying to investors. Defense lawyers say Mr. Skilling and Mr. Lay were not involved in any fraud and that the collapse of Enron in December 2001 was caused by a market panic.

Summary: Mr. Delainey said that it was as brazen as it got, along with Kenneth D. Rice, who led Enron's broadband unit, is the highest-ranking former executive to testify so far in the trial of Enron's founder, Mr. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay. They are charged with scheming to defraud Enron by lying to investors. Defense lawyers said that  both of them were not involved in any fraud and that the collapse of Enron was caused by a market panic.


Summary: Mr. Delainey said on Wednesday that he considered the meeting the start of a conspiracy and that the people there, including the chief accounting officer, Richard Causey, should have known they were agreeing to a crime. When the company faced more than $200 million in losses, Mr. Causey came up with a plan to shift the problem contracts into Enron's wholesale energy division.

Summary: Mr. Delainey said that he considered the meeting that starts with conspiracy and that the people there, including the chief accounting officer, Richard Causey, should have known they were agreeing to a crime. When the company managers discovered that the company faced more than $200 million in losses, Mr. Causey came up with a plan to resolve the problem contracts into Enron's wholesale energy division, as he said.


Summary: Despite intense questioning by a defense lawyer, the former head of Enron's Energy Services retail unit insisted Wednesday that Jeffrey K. Skilling should have known he was committing a crime by lying about a questionable accounting move.


Summary: Schulman and Paul Haggis, a co-writer and the director of ''Crash,'' are the only producers eligible for the prize. Robert Moresco, a co-writer with Mr. Haggis who is nominated for the best-screenplay Oscar, said that 'Crash' had been a great thing in his life, and he expected everyone to act honorably.

Summary: Cathy Schulman and Paul Haggis, a co-writer and the director of 'Crash,' are the only producers eligible for the prize, though the film has six producers in its credits.


Summary: Mr. Yari was denied a producer credit in an arbitration by the Producers Guild of America in December, and denied again after appeals to both the guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars.

Summary: Bob Yari was denied a producer credit in an arbitration by the Producers Guild of America in December, and denied again after appeals to both the guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars.


Summary: A bare-knuckled fight has broken out among the producers of one of the leading Oscar-nominated movies, ''Crash,'' over two of the things Hollywood cares about most: money and credit. Cathy Schulman, a producer of ''Crash,'' filed a lawsuit that accused Bob Yari, her fellow producer and former partner, of acting from ''greed and ego'' in failing to pay at least $2 million in producing fees to her and her partner, the film's executive producer Tom Nunan. The budget on ''Crash'' was so small, many of the principal people involved -- including the producers, the writers and the director -- took no money during the production of the film, deferring fees until the film saw a profit. Robert Moresco, a co-writer with Mr. Haggis who is nominated for the best-screenplay Oscar, said that 'Crash' has been a great thing in his life, and he expected everyone to act honorably.

Summary: In the weekend's Academy Awards, a bare-knuckled fight has broken out among the producers of one of the leading Oscar-nominated movies, ''Crash,'' over two of the things Hollywood cares about most that is money and credit. Even as the last Oscar ballots were being cast, Cathy Schulman, a producer of ''Crash,'' filed a lawsuit that accused Bob Yari, her fellow producer and former partner, of acting from ''greed and ego'' in failing to pay at least $2 million in producing fees to her and her partner, the film's executive producer Tom Nunan.


Summary: Mr. Sacker said that Ms. Schulman and Mr. Nunan had both been paid salaries as partners in Bull's Eye Entertainment, and that their fees for producing ''Crash'' were not meant to be paid until all the overhead costs for Bull's Eye had been recouped. Mr. Sacker further added that most producers were not paid a salary.

Summary: Mr. Yari said that the lawsuit reinforced a pattern by Ms. Schulman of his deceitful and litigious behavior. Neil Sacker, who is a lawyer for Mr. Yari, is also a defendant in Ms. But Mr. Sacker said that Ms. Schulman and Mr. Nunan had both been paid salaries as they are the partners in Bull's Eye Entertainment, and that their fees for producing ''Crash'' were not meant to be paid until all the overhead costs for Bull's Eye had been recouped.


Summary: Katherine Kennedy, a senior lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that the president was then talking about ending their addiction to oil, but he was not following through with the national policies they would've needed to create a Marshall Plan for renewable energy.

Summary: Katherine Kennedy, who was the senior lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council told that the President not following through with the national policies and they need to create a Marshall Plan for renewable energy.


Summary: Israel Ramirez, the unarmed security guard who worked for Busta Rhymes will join along with Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur and Jam Master Jay will join a string of unsolved slayings in the hip-hop world. The investigators believe that The killing of Mr. Ramirez was the unintended result of a petty squabble

Summary: The investigators believe that the killing of Israel Ramirez, an unarmed security guard who worked for Busta Rhymes was the unintended result of a petty squabble, and by remaining silent, Busta Rhymes is angering the family of Mr. Ramirez and a good number of his fans.


Summary: William and Patricia Burke have lived in their white Colonial-style farmhouse on the edge of the Tug Hill plateau for 36 years. The Burkes' old farmhouse is now surrounded by a forest of 120 huge windmills. Changing the Burkes' life the turbines have transformed the landscape and the economy of the county, an area where it seems most barns are as swaybacked as an old mare.

Summary: William and Patricia Burke have lived in their white Colonial-style farmhouse on the edge of the Tug Hill plateau for 36 years. The farmhouse is now surrounded by a forest of 120 huge windmills.


Summary: The former chief accountant of Enron's wholesale energy-trading unit, Wesley H. Colwell, testified that in 2000, the company dipped into reserve accounts set up for problem contracts to illegally pad earnings. Mr. Colwell testified that he manipulated earnings on two occasions after receiving directions from Enron corporate officers that they wanted to beat analysts' estimates for each quarter. In both cases, he dipped into a $70 million reserve that had been set aside for a contract settlement with a utility. He and previous witnesses have testified that it is illegal to dip into reserves to achieve earnings targets. He has admitted manipulating earnings and has been fined $500,000 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has an agreement with the Justice Department that requires him to testify to avoid criminal prosecution.

Summary: Wesley H. Colwell, the former chief accountant of Enron's wholesale energy-trading unit, testified that the company dipped into reserve accounts set up for problem contracts to illegally pad earnings. Colwell also testified that he manipulated earnings on two occasions after receiving directions from Enron corporate officers that they wanted to beat analysts' estimates for each quarter. Testifying in the trial's fifth week, Mr. Colwell said he manipulated earnings on two occasions after receiving directions from Enron corporate officers that they wanted to beat analysts' estimates for each quarter. In both cases, he said, he dipped into a $70 million reserve that had been set aside for a contract settlement with a utility. He said, he dipped into a $70 million reserve that had been set aside for a contract settlement with a utility and also admitted that he manipulated earnings and has been fined $500,000 by the SEC.


Summary: Mr. Skilling is on trial in Federal District Court, along with the founder of Enron, Kenneth L. Lay. Under cross-examination, however, Colwell admitted that no one, including Mr. Skilling and Mr. Lay, specifically directed him to use reserve accounts to increase profits.

Summary: Kenneth L. Lay, the founder of Enron, is on trial in Federal District Court along with Mr. Skilling.


Summary: Wanda Curry, a former internal accountant, said she had led a project that uncovered problems with Enron Energy Services, and she said, by the transfer of more than $500 million in losses to the wholesale energy unit. Curry described a special investigation she led into retail energy contracts that Mr. Causey became concerned about in 2000. She was shocked to discover that hundreds of checks found under the desk of a trader in the retail unit. She had been ousted from her position because she was not capable of making aggressive accounting decisions. The retail unit was owed $511 million by two California utilities on the verge of declaring bankruptcy. She didn't see any legitimate reason for the transfer of retail trading operations from the retail unit to the wholesale unit in early 2001 other than to disguise trading losses of more than $500 million in the retail unit.

Summary: Wanda Curry, a former internal accountant, said she had led a project that uncovered problems with Enron Energy Services. She said that the retail energy unit's problems were covered up partly by the transfer of more than $500 million in losses to the wholesale energy unit. Curry described a special investigation she led into retail energy contracts, discover that hundreds of checks from Enron retail customers, probably worth millions of dollars, had been found under the desk of a trader in the retail unit that concerned Mr. Causey in 2000. Curry and her team also discovered that the retail unit was owed $511 million by two California utilities on the verge of declaring bankruptcy. She testified that there was no legitimate reason for the transfer of retail trading operations from the retail unit to the wholesale unit other than to disguise trading losses of more than $500 million.


Enron
Enron Energy Services
Enron Broadband Services

Summary: Two minor figures in the Enron story added on Monday to testimony that the company had padded earnings to disguise problems concerning investors. The former chief accountant of Enron, Wesley H. Colwell, testified that in 2000, the company dipped into reserve accounts set up to illegally pad earnings. And Wanda Curry, a former internal accountant, said she had led a project that uncovered problems with Enron Energy Services and she also said, by the transfer of more than $500 million in losses to the wholesale energy unit. Their testimony could prove that Jeffrey K. Skilling, Enron chief executive, knowingly directed manipulations of Enron earnings and then lied about Enron's performance. Mr. Colwell said he manipulated earnings on two occasions that they wanted to beat analysts' estimates for each quarter. He said he first manipulated earnings because the company wanted to beat Wall Street estimates by 2 cents a share.

Summary: Two figures in the Enron story testified that the company had padded earnings and shifted hundreds of millions in losses from one division to another. The former chief accountant of Enron's wholesale energy-trading unit, Wesley H. Colwell, testified that in 2000, the company dipped into reserve accounts set up to illegally pad earnings. Wanda Curry, a former internal accountant, said she had led a project that uncovered problems with Enron Energy Services, by the transfer of more than $500 million in losses. Jeffrey K. Skilling, a former Enron chief executive, knowingly directed manipulations of Enron earnings and financial results and then lied about Enron's performance. Ms. Curry, who has not pleaded guilty to any crime, said she was shocked to discover that hundreds of checks from Enron retail customers, probably worth millions of dollars, had been found under the desk of a trader in the retail unit. Ms.


Summary: Michael Krautz who was the former accountant of Enron Broadband Services, 37, and Kevin Howard, 43 , who was the former finance vice president were tried on conspiracy and fraud charges in July.

Summary: The former accountant of Enron Broadband Services, Michael Krautz, 37, and the former finance vice president, Kevin Howard, 43, were tried in July on conspiracy and fraud charges.


Summary: In an e-mail message to David W. Delainey, the wholesale unit's chief executive, Mr. Colwell wrote that Richard A. Causey, the company's chief accounting officer, had spoken to Mr. Skilling ''and that was his preference.'' Mr. Colwell said he was twice asked in July 2000 to come up with $7 million for the second-quarter earnings target. The retail evaluation was being prepared for Mr. Delainey and another executive, who ultimately presented Ms. Curry.

Summary: In an e-mail message to David W. Delainey, the wholesale unit's chief executive, Mr. Colwell wrote that Richard A. Causey, the company's chief accounting officer, had spoken to Mr. Skilling and that was his preference. The retail evaluation was being prepared for Mr. Delainey.


Summary: Mr. Skilling is on trial in Federal District Court, along with the founder of Enron, Kenneth L. Lay. The retrial of two former executives of Enron's Internet unit can begin while the case against Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling continues in an adjacent courtroom.

Summary: Mr. Skilling is on trial in Federal District Court, along with the founder of Enron, Kenneth L. Lay. The retrial of two former executives of Enron's Internet unit can begin while the case against Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling continues in an adjacent courtroom, a federal judge ruled Monday.


Summary: The former Enron chief executive, Jeffrey K. Skilling, along with the founder of Enron, Kenneth L. Lay, is on trial in Federal District Court as they are accused of manipulating Enron earnings and financial results and then lying about Enron's performance. Both men could face the possibility of spending the rest of their lives behind bars if convicted.

Summary: Mr. Jeffrey K. Skilling a former Enron chief executive, along with the founder of Enron, Kenneth L. Lay is on trial in Federal District Court. Mr. Skilling knowingly directed manipulations of Enron earnings and financial results and then lied about Enron's performance. Both men are accused of conspiring to defraud Enron investors and face the possibility of spending the rest of their lives behind bars if convicted.


Summary: There was lack of cooperation between the rap artist Busta Rhymes and a half-dozen hip-hop celebrities who were present at the filming of a video at the studio which keep the authorities astonished. Busta Rhymes, 33, whose given name is Trevor Smith said "Even if you have a conversation with police, you'll be called a snitch." He faces a dilemma which has a particular resonance to the hip-hop world. He was showing his anger towards the family of Mr. Ramirez and a good number of his fans by keeping himself silent. Mr. Allah said that Busta is not his real name, it's a character he created.

Summary: The killing of Israel Ramirez, an unarmed security guard who worked for Busta Rhymes, will join a string of unsolved slayings in the hip-hop world and Busta gunned down in his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, in 2002. 33-year-old Trevor Smith, better known as Busta Rhymes, faces a dilemma that he has a particular resonance to the hip-hop world. His silence is angering the family of Mr. Ramirez and his fans. But if he speaks to the authorities, he risks harming his so-called street credibility. A growing number of fans have called his silence cowardly and amoral, and in New York, a group of ministers and anti-violence advocates have called for a boycott of his music. He's advertised himself as a hard-core guy, so the assumption out there is that if you're a gangster and a street dude, you shouldn't call the cops when there's trouble.