December 24, 1997

Kathleen Petyarre, Australian aborigine, reportedly admits that her Welsh-born former husband, Ray Beamish, actually painted award-winning art that was hailed as 'aboriginal'; Japanese trumpet player Yasuhiro Fujita, who plays in military orchestra, wins dream-come-true contest and plays at concert with Boston Pops Orchestra; film Titanic has co-star Leonardo DiCaprio recalling ice-fishing in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on lake that was not created until five years after real Titanic sank; photos; eight men are arrested in Turkey for trying to sell Roman statue they dug up while doing drainage work (Footlights column) (S)

Profile of and interview with Paul Karos, who has been afflicted with degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa; disease has slowly robbed him of his sight, but he has compensated through hard work to become a success; he is presently head of institutional sales at Piper Jaffray, securities brokerage firm in Minneapolis; comments on challenges of dealing with retinitis pigmentosa, stressing difficulty of adapting to a certain level of lost vision, only to have one's sight worsen; photo; chart shows percentages of Americans with various disabilities who are able to work (M)

New York City Family Court Judge Joseph M Lauria will allow Richard and Karen Thorne to begin spending more time alone with two girls they adopted in Russia, and could be united with them at end of March; Arizona couple were accused of abusing girls on flight to US last spring, and five-year-olds have been living in foster homes ever since; judge warns that psychiatric evaluations raise questions about couple's ability to control their anger, frustration and lack of patience, and orders them to undergo psychotherapy before he makes custody ruling; photo; girls are now living with Karen Thorne's brother in Phoenix (S)

Gunmen charge into southern Mexican mountain village, spraying rifle fire and swinging machetes; 45 Indians, including 15 children, are killed in worst violence in Chiapas since Indian uprising began four years ago; photo; map; survivors say calculated attack came from Indians who support Government, against village crowded with political rivals; Pres Ernesto Zedillo condemns killings and orders federal investigation, but Roman Catholic Church leaders accuse local officials of ignoring urgent pleas for help as bloodshed began; killings in Chenalho, village of Tzotzil Indians, caps outburst of violence in Chiapas highlands in which more than 300 people have been killed since 1994; tensions simmer because Government has yet to reach peace accord with Zapatista guerrillas led by mysterious non-Indian who calls himself Subcommander Marcos; rebels remain holed up in lowland jungles as sympathy for their anti-Government cause spreads to cool northern mountains (M)

William Grimes comment on New York restaurant pastries as edible theater; describes some of most elaborately designed, eye-catching confections prepared by pastry chefs such as Richard Leach, Kim O'Flaherty and Wayne Brachman; photos (M)