August 4, 1993

Federal agents said suspects accused of selling guns and explosives referred to Sheik Abdel Rahman as their spiritual leader. Page B4.

FOR a rock musician who packs arenas with sensitive black-clad adolescents, Peter Hook of New Order is hardly a household face. Tonight, he and the English band are to headline at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., as part of their first United States tour since 1989. Not long ago, Mr. Hook, 37, was at a window seat at Zoe, a restaurant in SoHo, visible to every passer-by but unnoticed. T-shirted, bearded and basset-faced, he calmly lunched on a well-done hamburger and french fries -- "no vegetables, just fries" -- while genially undermining New Order's image as dour purveyors of doom-y romance set to dance rhythms.

The explosion of a Titan IV rocket over the Pacific on Monday destroyed its secret payload, an $800 million spy-satellite system, wiping out most of the savings Congress took from the intelligence budget this year and damaging the nation's most expensive espionage program, Government and intelligence officials said today. "Every penny we cut is gone," said a Senator who fought to cut an additional $700 million from the budget for spy-satellite programs requested by the Director of Central Intelligence, R. James Woolsey. The cost of replacing the destroyed system would exceed the savings wrung from Mr. Woolsey by the Congressional intelligence committees last month.

Europe's Crisis Helps Banks American banks have become unintended beneficiaries of the European currency turmoil, which has pushed trading profits up sharply. Page D1. More Telephone Competition The F.C.C. enabled upstart telephone companies to compete locally with regional Bell companies. Page D1. Met Charged With Faces Felony Vince Coleman was charged with possessing a powerful explosive that injured fans in a parking lot. Page B11. Crossword Editor Dies Eugene T. Maleska, the crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times, died yesterday. He was 77.

LOOK! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's . . . Icon? Although Icon, a red-and-green-clad comic-book superhero, bears similarities to the Man of Steel, there is one big difference: he's black. Finding heroes like Icon or his female partner, Rocket, would have been difficult five years ago. But today, superheroes who fly in the face of stereotypes -- whether they are black, gay or otherwise nontraditional -- are zapping and socking villains as lead characters in their own comic books.