HEADLINES A group calling itself the New Politics Initiative has launched a Web site calling for the NDP to be replaced by a new party with fresh policies and a new leader. A research team has turned a thimbleful of stem cells into muscles that could be used as spare parts to replace damaged or diseased tissue in humans. Canadians log nearly the shortest workweeks among 32 nations, according to a new study. While average workweeks here are 42.2 hours, South Koreans put in 55.1 hours. Opposition MPPs say Ontario Premier Mike Harris swore at a Liberal member in the legislature yesterday. MARKETS Although chip giant Intel Corp. is expected to reduce its second-quarter revenue forecast again tomorrow, semiconductor companies showed new signs of life on stock markets yesterday. Over the past few months, the semiconductor sector has been badly hurt by oversupply, which has driven down prices and buying interest. Page B15 INTERNATIONAL Nepal's newly crowned King Gyanendra moved to stifle rumours yesterday that he wants to do away with his country's 10-year-old democracy and re-establish absolute rule, announcing he will respect and follow his late brother's commitment to a multiparty system of constitutional monarchy. Page A12 Fears are growing for the safety of a kidnapped Indian-rights activist whose dramatic testimony once helped force Canada to change its policy on export finance deals. Kimy Pernia Domico was abducted by gunmen on motorcycles Saturday in the Colombian town of Tierralta and authorities are blaming a right-wing paramilitary group. Page A12 Polish prosecutors have unearthed evidence that both Polish and German soldiers took part in the 1941 massacre of hundreds of Jews in a small town in eastern Poland. Witnesses blamed residents of Jedwabne rather than soldiers in a controversial book released this year. Page A13 TRAVEL Sir Richard Branson is betting his new service on Virgin Atlantic will have enough bells and whistles to lure you from the competitors. Little touches, like ice cream with the movies and seats that recline into beds, give it a certain cachet. But will it be enough to draw travellers to Virgin's new Toronto-London route? Page T1 HEALTH Signing up more donors isn't enough to fix Canada's shortage of transplant organs, Lisa Priest argues. Canadians should have the option to donate or sell their organs, rather than driving the market underground. But do we have the will to legalize and regulate the organ trade? Page A15 BUSINESS Fifteen years of overseeing carrot cutting and chicken trimming has turned into a lottery-scale win for managers of Sky Chefs Inc., the airline catering company sold last week by Onex Corp. The top 25 executives averaged $10.9-million each, with the biggest payout more than $60-million. Page B1 Productivity figures in the United States showed the steepest drop in eight years yesterday, falling at an annual rate of 1.2 per cent. The drop in productivity, defined as the total goods and services produced per hour by every worker, was the first decline since 1995. Page B2 TECHNOLOGY In a move that could be followed elsewhere in Europe, Germany has told mobile-phone operators they can share wireless networks under certain conditions, potentially reaping huge savings for Europe's telecommunications industry as it struggles to pay more than $85-billion (U.S) in licences to build the continent's new wireless infrastructure. Page B12 ARTS Except perhaps Mayor Mel Lastman, who would describe headlights on Yonge Street as a "glittering of emeralds on an infinite highway"? Or the CN Tower as "one of the seven wonders of the world, cloud-free and covered with winking lights"? Didier Leclair would. In fact, his novel is called Toronto, je t'aime ( Toronto, I love you), and it has just won the Prix Trillium as the best novel written in French in Ontario this year. Page R1 A judge has denied a request by rapper Eminem's mother to try to collect more money in settling a pair of defamation lawsuits. Debbie Mathers-Briggs tried to dismiss lawyers who wanted her to accept $25,000 (U.S.) from her son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III. Her lawsuits stemmed from comments he made during interviews that she says portrayed her as an unstable, lawsuit-happy drug user. Page R2 Global Television Network unveiled a fall lineup yesterday that was noticeably light on new made-in-Canada programming. Although the network is bringing back several Canadian programs, such as the historical spoof Black Fly, the adult cartoon Bob & Margaret and the police drama Blue Murder, there was not a single new homegrown drama or comedy on the table. Page R2 POLITICS The Bloc Québécois and 14 Canadian Alliance MPs joined the Liberals in voting for a 20-per-cent pay raise last night as members of Parliament approved the bill in principle. Page A4 King Township councillors say they are ready to sue the Region of York if it approves extending a sewer system into the rural community. They favour a small-scale local treatment system instead of a regional system they say would open the area north of Toronto to large-scale suburban development. Page A18 SPORTS The Colorado Avalanche are down 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils heading into tomorrow night's sixth game of the Stanley Cup final and the end is definitely near. For his part, Ray Bourque looks especially tired. Having logged enough minutes to break a horse's back, the old warhorse is slowing down and prone to making mistakes. Page S1 A number of Canadian golfers, who make their living on the Canadian Tour, did not qualify for the Canadian PGA Championship now that it is a Buy.com Tour stop. The event tees off at the Diamond Back Golf Club in Richmond Hill, Ont., tomorrow, and while the purse is larger, some Canadian golfers feel they are getting the shaft. Page S1 FAREWELL David Young, a painter whose rodent-infested, illegally rented loft became a citadel of jazz improvisation and experimentation in the 1950s and '60s, has died at 71. Known simply as the "Sixth Avenue loft," the Manhattan industrial building became a gathering place for the greats of jazz, including Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as for utter unknowns who simply yearned to play. Page R7 QUIRKS An empty package containing Invisible Jim, a non-doll invented by a reclusive Australian designer, is appearing in North American gift stores. Since introducing the novelty late last year, the manufacturer has fielded calls from customers complaining that the doll was missing from their boxes. Page A20