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NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 10 January 2005

INTERNATIONAL A3-9 Abbas Declares Victory In Palestinian Elections Mahmoud Abbas, who opposes continuing violence against Israel, declared victory in the election for a new president of the Palestinian Authority after two surveys of voters leaving the polls showed him winning by a large margin. The strong margin should help give Mr. Abbas a mandate for change and to try to put an end to terrorism. A1 President Bush welcomed the victory of Mr. Abbas as administration officials prepared to increase the tempo of involvement in the Middle East and cautioned that Israel and the Palestinians needed to take concrete steps to capitalize on the election. A7 The voting was largely trouble-free in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, too, voting took place without major difficulties, as the people chose a new leader, a rare event in the Arab world. A7 When Will the U.S. Leave Iraq? Conversation has started on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and some days even in the White House about when and how American forces might begin to disengage in Iraq. A1 Two Iraqi policemen and three Iraqi civilians were killed south of Baghdad during a gunfight for which an Iraqi spokesman initially blamed American troops. Seven Ukrainian soldiers and one Kazakh soldier were killed when a bomb accidentally detonated near Suwayra, 50 miles southeast of Baghdad. Eleven other soldiers were also wounded. A6 Expanding Tsunami Relief Mercy Corps, an aid group based in Portland, Ore., is expanding its relief work. The group is recruiting local laborers who will help clear the disaster zones. Despite the grueling and gruesome labor, the recruited men seemed to be relieved to have something constructive to do, and to have a way to earn money. A1 Tarnished by its handling of the oil-for-food program in Iraq as it begins another multibillion-dollar program of tsunami relief, the United Nations is taking measures to ensure public accountability of how the money is spent. A8 Members of Lasker Mujahedeen, a paramilitary group that has fought Christians in Indonesia and has had links to Al Qaeda, are among hundreds of Indonesian Islamic extremists who have come to Aceh in the name of helping their fellow Muslims. A9 Peace Treaty in Area of Sudan The Islamic government of Sudan signed a peace agreement with a Christian rebel group in the south. The agreement is fraught with potential complications but it could help bring development to one of the world's most destitute regions. The celebration was tempered by the fact that the war continues in other areas of Sudan. A3 Gale-Force Winds in Europe Eleven people were killed and at least four were missing after gale-force winds battered northern Europe, causing flooding and transport chaos and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity. A4 NATIONAL A12-17 DNA Donations Requested To Solve a Grisly Murder Police officers in Truro, Mass., are trying to get DNA from all 790 or so men in town -- or as many as will agree -- in an unusual last-ditch move for clues to the three-year-old unsolved murder of Christa Worthington, who was stabbed to death in the town's most grisly mystery. A1 Differences on Social Security White House officials plan to describe Social Security as a system in ''crisis'' whose promises to younger workers are a ''fiction,'' in the first phase of a strategy to build support for overhauling the program. Opponents say Mr. Bush is exaggerating the problems. A14 Weather-Related Deaths in U.S. Relentless, pounding rain produced landslides, flooding and chaos on California highways. Wicked weather was blamed for several deaths during the weekend, from Southern California to Pennsylvania. A12 Railroad Crew Questioned Investigators seeking the cause of a train crash that released clouds of chlorine gas and killed nine people said they were looking into whether a train crew was distracted or fatigued when it was time to reset a railroad switch. Investigators said the crew had called their dispatcher seven hours earlier to report that they had completed their work. That call meant that the switch should have been re-positioned. The switch showed no sign of tampering. A13 Sheriff Firings Upstage Victory Clayton County, Ga., opened the year with its first black-majority government, including the county commission and sheriff. But the celebratory moment has been all but eclipsed by the uproar over the new sheriff's firing of 27 employees. The county commission's chief of staff, Clark Talmage Stevens, a former adviser to presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, called it ''a blatant mass political firing.'' A12 Democrats Pick Midterm Chief Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois was named as the new chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The appointment means Mr. Emanuel will direct the Democrats' effort to recapture the House in the 2006 midterm elections. A14 SPORTSMONDAY D1-8 Mets to Sign Carlos Beltran Carlos Beltran and the Mets agreed in principle to a seven-year, $119 million contract. The deal is contingent on Beltran's passing a physical and on the two sides completing the financial structure of the contract, a major league official who was briefed on the negotiations said. A1 NEW YORK/REGION B1-5 'Wicked' Witch, Injured, Still Takes Her Final Bow Idina Menzel, the Tony Award-winning actress and departing star of ''Wicked,'' the Broadway blockbuster based on ''The Wizard of Oz,'' took the stage for a five-minute final standing ovation just 24 hours after she fractured a rib in an onstage accident. B1 Investigation of Arts Center The Saratoga Performing Arts Center said it had received a subpoena from the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, relating to questions about its spending practices. B5 Vaccine Shortage Tests City New York City, which dealt with a shortage of flu vaccine last fall by scrounging for doses, now faces a flu season that is just beginning. How it handled the crisis offers lessons in how it might respond to a larger health emergency. B1 Ex-Con Arrested Again Jesse Nettles, a homeless man who served more than a decade in prison after two violent attacks in 1974, was arrested in connection with another string of violence: the stabbing of a man in Times Square and two employees at a restaurant in Pennsylvania Station, the police said. B1 Behind Rowland's Plea Lawyers involved in the case of John G. Rowland, the former Connecticut governor, say that last month's plea agreement shrewdly positioned him to appeal for leniency at his sentencing on March 11 and halted a criminal investigation. B5 Neediest Cases B4 ARTS E1-12 Paris Museums Branching Out The Louvre and the Georges Pomidou Center are both preparing to open branches outside of Paris, following a growing trend. E1 TV Anchors Scramble for Glory Television networks and their star anchormen are in fierce competition for ratings and glory in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, which struck at a moment of transition for network news organizations. E1 OBITUARIES B7 Anthony Williamson A scholar in human geography who developed innovative techniques to help indigenous Canadians press land claims , he was 69. B7 BUSINESS DAY C1-10 Papers for Nonsubscribers Across the country each week, more than 1.6 million people who are not on newspaper subscriber rolls are being delivered a copy -- but they are still being classified as paying customers. C1 Cheaper Seats at Big Board A seat on the New York Stock Exchange was sold last week for only $1 million, the lowest price since 1995. The dropping price is a sign of serious challenges being made to the world's largest equity exchange, an institution owned by its 1,366 seat holders. C1 Trying to Revive Mercedes Deteriorating profits and mounting quality problems have made Mercedes a metaphor for Germany's struggle to maintain its place in the global economy -- and creating a challenge for its new chief, Eckhard Cordes. C1 Business Digest C1 EDITORIAL A18-19 Editorials: For the record on Social Security; housecleaning at the U.N.; going by the rules. Columns: William Safire and Bob Herbert. Autos D8 Bridge E9 Crossword E9 Metro Diary B2 TV Listings E11 Weather B8

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NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 09 January 2005

INTERNATIONAL 3-11 The Election Process in Iraq The Bush administration decision to set up one nationwide vote for a new national assembly in Iraq, rather than elections by districts and provinces, has come back to haunt officials. With only a national election being held, at a time when the insurgency is likely to depress voter turnout in Sunni areas of the country, the results may be far from representative. 8 Insurgents killed at least five people in Iraq, but the American military announced that it had captured a third top commander of a militant group linked to Al Qaeda. 8 Accusations in Kidnapping Case A Lebanese man alleges that he was kidnapped by the Macedonian authorities, turned over to officials he believed were from the United States, and flown to a prison in Afghanistan. There, he says, he was shackled, abused and accused of having ties to Al Qaeda. 1 Preparing for Palestinian Vote Israel said it was easing travel restrictions as promised in advance of the Palestinian presidential election. But Palestinians said they saw only limited evidence that checkpoints and other obstacles were being removed. Despite the latest dispute, both sides said they believed the election should go relatively smoothly. 4 Continuing Tsunami Aftermath Health specialists say that Sri Lanka averted a medical disaster by setting up camps quickly and running them well, particularly in providing clean drinking water. But now the local medical staff is tired and overwhelmed. Some staff members have died, clinics were wiped out and vehicles were destroyed. 10 Oil-for-Food Program Criticized Internal United Nations audits of the so-called oil-for-food program in Iraq criticize the office for failing to adequately supervise and audit the companies hired to inspect the oil moving out of Iraq and goods going in under the program. 1 NATIONAL 12-20 Scrutiny for Rail Tank Cars In wake of Thursday's crash in South Carolina, federal authorities have been working with railroads and the chemical industry to improve security for trains. But there is still much to be done, particularly given the structural weaknesses of many tank cars, current and former federal officials say. 1 Bush Seeks Curb in Benefits In his budget request to Congress, President Bush will try to impose firm, enforceable limits on the growth of federal benefit programs, and the chairmen of the Senate and House Budget Committees said they strongly supported that effort. 17 President Bush named two former senators to head a bipartisan advisory panel on tax reform, and gave the group six months to come up with recommendations on how to make the income tax simpler, fairer and more conducive to growth. 17 A Longer Wait for Jobless Even though overall unemployment dropped last year, the share of unemployed workers who have been jobless for more than six months -- the point at which most state benefits run out -- has remained historically high. 14 SPORTS SP1-12 Jets Advance with O.T. Win The Jets advanced to the American Football Conference divisional playoffs with a 20-17 overtime win against the San Diego Chargers. SP1 NEW YORK/REGION 23-29 Push to Revamp Medicaid Gov. George E. Pataki's advisers are pressing him to support the Bush administration's efforts to establish new limits on the federal Medicaid program as a means of revamping the state's program. 23 Neediest Cases 28 Chess 28 Weather 31

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Panel Finds CBS News Rushed Report on Bush's Guard Record

Date: 10 January 2005

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Those I.P.O.'s Are Sizzling Hot. Uh-Oh.

Date: 09 January 2005

By Gary Rivlin

Gary Rivlin

Initial public offerings do very well in 2004, totaling 242 and richly rewarding investors; however, shares of any number of these IPO's rose despite little or no history of profits, and 40 percent of them had annual sales of less than $50 million; this leads some observers to worry that market for IPO's is becoming frothy; photo; graph (M)

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Reporting Live From Hell: TV Scrambles for Glory

Date: 10 January 2005

By Jacques Steinberg

Jacques Steinberg

Article on television news coverage of South Asia tsunami and quiet public-relations campaigns mounted by competing networks; focuses on news anchors reporting from the scene: Brian Williams of NBC, Dan Rather of CBS and Anderson Cooper of CNN; photos; graph of disaster news ratings for broadcast and cable networks (M)

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Your Daily Paper, Courtesy of a Sponsor

Date: 10 January 2005

By Jacques Steinberg and Tom Torok

Jacques Steinberg

Large and small newspapers across nation are delivering papers to over 1.6 million people each week who are not on their subscriber rolls but are still being classified as paying customers; papers are typically paid for by advertisers; Audit Bureau of Circulations rule change three years ago lets papers include third-party sales in total circulation; change has kept circulation from falling at far faster rate; New York Times analysis finds combined average paid circulation of 669 newspapers fell 0.2 percent in six months ended Mar 2004 from six months ended Mar 2002, but would have fallen nearly 2 percent had third-party sales been excluded; advertisers and some newspaper analysts score industry's increased reliance on papers paid for by others; graph and table of third-party sales; photos (M)

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No Picture Tells the Truth. The Best Do Better Than That.

Date: 09 January 2005

By Daniel Okrent

Daniel Okrent

TWO Mondays ago, the scale of the Indian Ocean catastrophe was just emerging from the incomplete earlier reports (from a Times article the day before: a tidal wave had ''killed more than 150 people in Sri Lanka''). By the 4:30 Page 1 meeting, picture editors had examined more than 900 images of devastation to find the one that would stretch across five columns and nearly half the depth of Tuesday's front page. Into a million homes came a grieving mother crouched beside the lifeless bodies of tiny children, and perhaps more horrifying, three pairs of feet extending from beneath a white sheet in an upper corner, suggesting the presence beyond the frame of row upon awful row of the tsunami's pitiless toll. Many readers and at least a few members of The Times's newsroom staff considered the picture exploitative, unduly graphic, and by its size and placement, inappropriately forced upon the paper's readers. Some felt it disrespectful of both the living and the dead. A few said The Times would not have published it had the children been white Americans. Boaz Rabin of Weehawken, N.J., wrote, ''Lead with letters the size of eggs, use any words you see fit, but don't put a nightmare on the front page.''

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Murdoch Will Buy Rest of Fox Shares in $7 Billion Deal

Date: 10 January 2005

By Andrew Ross Sorkin and Geraldine Fabrikant

Andrew Sorkin

Rupert Murdoch is expected to announce that he will buy out shareholders of his Fox properties for about $7 billion; deal would solidify his control over some of nation's most valuable media assets and help simplify complicated structure of News Corp, his far-flung company; it also puts him in better position to leverage his full ownership of Fox Entertainment Group for future deals (M)

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Feud Rises Between Blair and Aide

Date: 10 January 2005

By Alan Cowell

Alan Cowell

Longstanding rivalry between Britain's Prime Min Tony Blair and Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown is depicted as nudging toward open warfare as politicians speculate about election in May; Blair denies trying to upstage Brown by changing time of news conference to conflict with speech delivered by Brown (S)

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The Internet's Future? It Depends on Whom You Ask

Date: 10 January 2005

By Tom Zeller Jr

Tom Zeller

Pew Internet & American Life Project survey of wide range of technology specialists, scholars and industry leaders on Internet's future finds deep division on some topics; finds widespread agreement that there will be at least one devastating attack on Internet infrastructure in next 10 years; predictions are being added to growing online database developed jointly with Elon University; graphs of responses; photos (M)

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