June 1, 2003

WHEN Wall Street's biggest brokerage firms coughed up $1.4 billion to settle regulators' accusations that they had misled investors with compromised research, this question was on everyone's lips: Would the firms truly change their practices? A definitive answer seemed unknowable, at least until another bull market began. Testing brokerage firms' commitment to change would be impossible until the issuance of securities -- and their attendant fees -- boomed again.

Anaheim Mighty Ducks defeat New Jersey Devils, 3-2, in overtime; Devils lead Stanley Cup finals series, 2-1; photo (M)

Iraqis relive terror of Saddam Hussein's regime as they probe mass graves like one at Hilla, for remains of relatives; there may be hundreds of such mass graves throughout Iraq; some human rights groups estimate that Hussein had nearly 300,000 of his people executed, most in late 1970's and 1980's, when Iraq's Arab neighbors and most Western governments considered Hussein ally against threat of Islamic militancy in Iran; opposition groups estimate that tens of thousands more may have been imprisoned and tortured, their lives warped forever by what they saw and experienced; survivors describe what they endured; photos; map (M)

Unveiling of mosaic Abundance on Queensboro Bridge plaza is set following painstaking restoration; history of work discussed; photo (M)

THE problem, up to now, has been the absence of genocide. For more than four years, desire for the gold and coltan (a mineral used in the computer chip) found in northeastern Congo has turned this region into a showcase of cruelty. Ethnic enmities, the greed and political meddling of neighboring states and lawless militias comprised, in part, of gun-toting children, have created a state of ongoing violence that has claimed the lives of 3.3 million of the Congo's roughly 54 million people, according to a recent estimate by the International Rescue Committee.