April 3, 1999

Military analysis of NATO's air war over Yugoslavia; politicians and their assessments of public sensitivities have grounded just as many bombing runs as bad weather for most of campaign of past 10 days; commanders have been overruled by civilian bosses, driven by perception of political risks of losing aircraft and pilots, even though they believed military risk of flying low-level attacks was acceptable; diagrams (M)

New Jersey law-enforcement officials arrest David L Smith, 30-year-old software programmer for transmitting fast-spreading Melissa virus, that has affected more than 100,000 computers worldwide; arrest comes after FBI agents and officials from America Online helped officials from New Jersey Atty General's office home in on Internet access provider first used to send virus; investigtors determined after three days of sorting through thousands of customers' files and electronic transmission from provider Monmouth Internet Corp that telephone line used to send copy of virus was in Smith's apartment in Aberdeen Township; virus spreads like malignant chain letter, invading computer users' E-mail programs and sending itself on to as many as 50 correspondents in users' E-mail address books; photo; map (M)

About New York column profiles Rev Robert Castle, activist pastor of St Mary's Episcopal Church in Harlem, who on Good Friday continues his tradition of social protest and religious observance--two pillars of his 45 years as priest (M)

Attacks by NATO warplanes against Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for first time in 10-day-old air war discussed; destruction by cruise missiles of Federal Ministry for Internal Affairs and Serbian Ministry of Interior, which house paramilitary forces carrying out crackdown against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, described; maps; photo (M)

Anaheim Mighty Ducks defeat New York Rangers, 4-1; photos (S)