Pioneer Group

Galvanizing the quest for a stronger Europe and a counterweight to the United States, French President Jacques Chirac called Tuesday for a "pioneer group" of countries led by his nation and Germany to reform and expand the European Union.

The growing popularity of Spanish-language hip-hop has created a new music style, Latin urban, and even a new U.S. radio format with a name only the mother of a marketing man could love: Hurban, for Hispanic urban. Though it may seem like a recent pop phenomenon, especially in light of the reggaeton explosion, the style has roots in underground movements from the 1990s. In Cuba, rappers risked governmental wrath for performing what officials labeled "the music of the enemy."

Wall Street on Monday looked at mutual fund companies' depressed shares with a much more appreciative eye, courtesy of an Italian banking firm's bid for U.S. fund firm Pioneer Group. UniCredito Italiano said it will pay $43.50 a share for Pioneer, a 40% premium to the recent price. The deal ends a troubled period for Pioneer, which suffered losses last year and was accused by one major shareholder of poor management. Pioneer shares rocketed $11.06 to $42.

Ever since they were children, Steve Choi, Ethan Levy and Elaine Chan have been told by people who never met them that the great passion of their lives, the thing that captivated and moved them, was the enemy of intellect, emotionally damaging and quite possibly the end of civilization as we know it. Choi, Levy and Chan are gamers. That is, they play video games with serious devotion and intensity.

There wasn't a dry eye at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night, but the tears weren't for the shabby season of the Boys in Blue. Padres Contra El Cancer, believed to be the only Latino organization in the United States dedicated to assisting Latino children with cancer and their families, staged its first black-tie gala benefit, El Sueno de Esperanza (Vision of Hope), at the Stadium Club.

Jam Master Jay, part of the pioneering rap trio Run DMC, was shot and killed Wednesday, the group's publicist said. Publicist Tracy Miller confirmed the death of the 37-year-old disc jockey, whose real name was Jason Mizell. He was shot once in the head and was dead at the scene, said police Det. Robert Price. He said the shooter remained at large and police had no information on a motive.

The growing popularity of Spanish-language hip-hop has created a new music style, Latin urban, and even a new U.S. radio format with a name only the mother of a marketing man could love: Hurban, for Hispanic urban. Though it may seem like a recent pop phenomenon, especially in light of the reggaeton explosion, the style has roots in underground movements from the 1990s. In Cuba, rappers risked governmental wrath for performing what officials labeled "the music of the enemy."

Ladies and gentlemen, the new Rolling Stones album. Well, it ought to be. Every time I hear some good rock 'n' roll mixed with blues and R&B, I wonder why the Stones don't just admit that being unimaginably rich and jaded leaves them irrevocably divorced from human-scale existence and therefore disqualified from the rock songwriters' work of condensing intense thought or experience into a few hummable, grooving minutes of music.

Two of the most formidable women executives in the entertainment industry are forging a partnership to create a cable channel targeting an influential yet underserved and dissatisfied segment of the television audience: women viewers. Geraldine Laybourne, a veteran television executive who built Nickelodeon into the leading channel for children, and maverick prime-time producer Marcy Carsey, along with her partners at Carsey-Werner Co.

"I don't ever go out looking for trouble, it just seems to follow me," says Andre Young, a young man who knows the inside of a courthouse. He once hit a New Orleans policeman during a hotel lobby brawl there. On another occasion he roughed up a TV talk-show host, slamming her into a wall of a Hollywood nightclub. A former associate charges that Young once hired thugs to threaten him, and a local record producer claims Young busted his jaw.

Jam Master Jay, part of the pioneering rap trio Run DMC, was shot and killed Wednesday, the group's publicist said. Publicist Tracy Miller confirmed the death of the 37-year-old disc jockey, whose real name was Jason Mizell. He was shot once in the head and was dead at the scene, said police Det. Robert Price. He said the shooter remained at large and police had no information on a motive.

There wasn't a dry eye at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night, but the tears weren't for the shabby season of the Boys in Blue. Padres Contra El Cancer, believed to be the only Latino organization in the United States dedicated to assisting Latino children with cancer and their families, staged its first black-tie gala benefit, El Sueno de Esperanza (Vision of Hope), at the Stadium Club.

Galvanizing the quest for a stronger Europe and a counterweight to the United States, French President Jacques Chirac called Tuesday for a "pioneer group" of countries led by his nation and Germany to reform and expand the European Union.

Wall Street on Monday looked at mutual fund companies' depressed shares with a much more appreciative eye, courtesy of an Italian banking firm's bid for U.S. fund firm Pioneer Group. UniCredito Italiano said it will pay $43.50 a share for Pioneer, a 40% premium to the recent price. The deal ends a troubled period for Pioneer, which suffered losses last year and was accused by one major shareholder of poor management. Pioneer shares rocketed $11.06 to $42.

Two of the most formidable women executives in the entertainment industry are forging a partnership to create a cable channel targeting an influential yet underserved and dissatisfied segment of the television audience: women viewers. Geraldine Laybourne, a veteran television executive who built Nickelodeon into the leading channel for children, and maverick prime-time producer Marcy Carsey, along with her partners at Carsey-Werner Co.

Ladies and gentlemen, the new Rolling Stones album. Well, it ought to be. Every time I hear some good rock 'n' roll mixed with blues and R&B, I wonder why the Stones don't just admit that being unimaginably rich and jaded leaves them irrevocably divorced from human-scale existence and therefore disqualified from the rock songwriters' work of condensing intense thought or experience into a few hummable, grooving minutes of music.

Ever since they were children, Steve Choi, Ethan Levy and Elaine Chan have been told by people who never met them that the great passion of their lives, the thing that captivated and moved them, was the enemy of intellect, emotionally damaging and quite possibly the end of civilization as we know it. Choi, Levy and Chan are gamers. That is, they play video games with serious devotion and intensity.

U.S. Firm to Establish Poland's First Mutual Fund: Poles this spring will be able to invest in their country's first mutual fund, according to the fund's U.S. owner, Pioneer Group Inc. Pioneer Polish Equity Fund became the first mutual fund chartered by Poland's State Securities Commission on Feb. 28. Shares in the fund should go on sale in May, the company said.

"I don't ever go out looking for trouble, it just seems to follow me," says Andre Young, a young man who knows the inside of a courthouse. He once hit a New Orleans policeman during a hotel lobby brawl there. On another occasion he roughed up a TV talk-show host, slamming her into a wall of a Hollywood nightclub. A former associate charges that Young once hired thugs to threaten him, and a local record producer claims Young busted his jaw.