October 28, 2002

Bruce Weber Critic's Notebook column on current Harlem theater productions celebrating black divas: Classical Theater of Harlem's production of August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; Hadley Players' presentation of A Song for You: The Civil Rights Journey of a Negro Woman by Wendi Joy Franklin; and American Jazz Theater's production of Marian Anderson: The Lady From Philadelphia; photos (M)

Bill Pennington The Day in The NFL column discusses change of 10 quarterbacks among NFL teams in one day, as teams scramble to bolster struggling offenses by naming new starters (M)

William H Webster, named to head new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, must define, with his four colleagues, all board's basic functional and procedural methodologies; will determine whether to enforce or alter current rules on conducting audits; will deal with issue of separating accounting firms' auditing and consulting activities; must determine and mete out punishment for errant and unscrupulous auditors; board's effectiveness at protecting investors from future scandalous corporate surprises is still unknowable (M)

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, leftist labor union leader, is elected president of Brazil, taking 61.2 percent of vote to defeat centrist Jose Serra; overwhelming victory, with nearly 52 million votes, is seen as mandate to remake Latin America's most populous country; is likely to reverberate abroad, energizing left throughout Latin America and further unnerving international financial markets; da Silva's Workers' Party has been consistent critic of US and values it espouses; photo (M)

Prosecutors in Virginia say they have evidence that 17-year-old John Malvo, charged with John Allen Muhammad in sniper attacks in Washington area, was gunman in at least one of shootings; are using revelation to buttress argument that Virginia is best venue for first trial of the two, who would be eligible for death penalty under state law; Commomwealth Atty Robert F Horan Jr says investigators believe teenager was killer in Oct 14 shooting of Linda Franklin in shopping mall in Falls Church; federal officials say that they will support holding first trials in Virginia, but that federal court would be best venue for prosecution; have custody of two men and will have final say on which jurisdiction conducts first trial; photos (M)