April 29, 2002

Wenner Media owner Jann Wenner seeks replacement for Robert Love as Rolling Stone's top editor and will shift magazine's editorial approach; plans increased focus on news and shorter stories to better compete with Blender and Entertainment Weekly (M)

Records indicate Joseph A Cafasso, military consultant to Fox News Channel in its coverage of fighting in Afghanistan, misrepresented himself as former Special Forces colonel; Cafasso, who left Fox abruptly in Mar amid complaints he overstepped his bounds and became nuisance, was dishonorably discharged from Army as private after 44 days of boot camp; apparently has used his story of battlefield glories to make friends and find work and acceptance amid community of retired military officers; Fox News executives admit he was not who he said he was, but say he had effective network of military sources and helped gather apparently accurate news; photo (M)

Ruth Handler, creator of Barbie Doll, dies at age 85; pioneering creation in 1959 became one of world's best-selling toys and transformed sleepy Mattel Inc, which she co-founded with husband, into postwar success story; Barbie has been icon of American popular culture, as well as artistic muse and lightning rod of feminist politics; photos (M)

Legal experts say failure to settle obstruction of justice charges against Arthur Andersen accounting firm in Enron case represents failure of strategies on both sides; say Andersen refused to recognize significance and possible criminality of its actions, while government pushed so fast for resolution that it left little time for unwieldy Andersen partnership to adjust its strategy to reality; both sides now face high-risk gamble by going to trial (M)

Vivendi Wants New Voting Amid Fears on Tampering Jean-Marie Messier, chief executive of Vivendi Universal, is reconvening shareholders on June 3, confident that their rejection of crucial resolutions can be reversed. Vivendi also announced that it would seek to prosecute those thought to have tampered with shareholder voting at the meeting last week. Vivendi discovered anomalies after big stockholders complained that votes they had cast in favor of one proposal seemed to have been registered as abstentions. [Page C2.]

News analysis; Pres Bush's winning of Israeli agreement to end siege of Yasir Arafat's compound in Ramallah may be important step to shore up American credibility with Arab world by repositioning American foreign policy in Middle East, but volatile crisis is far from over and he faces even more difficult challenge of getting warring parties back to negotiating table where expectations for American pressure remain high on both sides; photo (M)

Ben Brantley reviews Noel Coward play Private Lives, directed by Howard Davies; Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan star; photos (M)

David Remnick's stewardship as New Yorker magazine editor assessed as magazine is up for 9 National Magazine Awards; his news-driven, high-tempo version of magazine is short on historical idiosyncrasies; his steady approach seems to have ensured magazine's future; circulation graph; photos (M)

This Week column: Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is set to open exhibit of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art from Beck Collection; National Poetry Month will conclude with centennial salute to Langston Hughes at Town Hall; Hollywood Arms, play by comedian and actress Carol Burnett and her eldest daughter, Carrie Hamilton, who died of cancer in January, will have world premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theater; fifth annual Brooklyn International Film Festival will open with screening of Maurizio Sciarra's Alla Rivoluzione Sul la Due Cavalli; photos (M)

Thousands of Afghan refugees are returning home from Pakistan, where they fled at onset of Soviet invasion in 1979; more than 300,000 have migrated home in two months since UN refugee agency began assisting repatriation; refugee officials believe as many as 1.2 million could also return from Pakistan and Iran; say it could take three years, perhaps longer, before estimated 5 to 6 million in neighboring countries return; those returning home seem to be ingoring naysayers who worry about risk of anarchy if new government in Kabul fails to rein in warlords who currently control much of country, or if Taliban and Al Qaeda regroup for new guerrilla war; map; photos (L)

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president Michael Greene, who ran Grammy Awards ceremony for 14 years, resigns under pressure during board meeting in Los Angeles to discuss sexual harassment lawsuit against him; photo (M)

Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column contends voters' ire over Andrew Cuomo's remark about Gov George Pataki's leadership in period following Sept 11 was caused more by tone than substance; says Cuomo sounded as if he were trying to take political advantage of city's suffering (M)