November 8, 2003

Lawyers for Lee Malvo, younger suspect in Washington-area sniper shootings, are pleased with trial of first defendant, John Muhammad, because Virginia prosecutors are depicting Muhammad as mastermind of killing team in which Malvo, 18, played distinctly subordinate role; Malvo defense plans novel argument that indoctrination by older man was intense as to result in form of insanity; Michael S Arif says he is not troubled by proximity of Muhammad trial, although Fairfax County prosecutor James F Horan Jr sess problems in selecting Malvo jury; Arif photo (M)

Herbert Muschamp appraisal of design guidelines for new World Trade Center site by Studio Daniel Libeskind (M)

News analysis of October employment report as strong indication that economy is in accelerating recovery; tax rebate checks that parents began spending August were driving force in retail sales surge, which provided demand that seems to have led some businesses to start hiring; Federal Reserve's sustained rate-cutting and government's spending increases also credited; graph showing rise in number of hours worked, first such gain since end of 2000 (M)

Summary of some major stories on inside pages

Six American soldiers are killed in Tikrit when Black Hawk helicopter crashes and burns in reeds along Tigris River, after reportedly exploding in midair; photos; Pentagon suspects Iraqi grenade attack; third such loss in two weeks poses problem for commanders who rely on relatively ungainly helicopters to transport troops and materiel across Iraq; 16 deaths in Chinook crash in Falluja is single deadliest attack on US forces since invasion; Black Hawk was ferrying troops from Mosul; second Black Hawk lands unscathed (M)