March 3, 2004

Suicide bombers and other attackers detonate mortars, grenades and roadside bombs among crowds of Shiite Muslims gathered for holy day observances at mosques in Baghdad and Karbala, killing at least 143 people; dead reportedly include pilgrims from Iran; death toll is highest in Iraq since United States-led invasion; much of angry reaction to attacks is focused on occupation; American officials suspect Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, Sunni militant who wrote to senior Al Qaeda leaders seeking help in starting 'sectarian war' by attacking Shiites to spur counterattack by them on Sunnis; one of four suicide bombers is arrested when his explosive-laden vest fails to detonate; US intelligence official sees no link between attacks and attack on Shiites marking same holy day, Ashura, in Quetta, Pakistan; maps; chronology of attacks against Muslim targets; photos (M)

Florence Fabricant reports on booming restaurant scene in downtown Manhattan, especially around meatpacking district, where chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Gray Kunz and Mario Batali have opened or are opening kitchens (M)

Ireland's CRH reports 2.8 percent increase in yearly net profit, to 640.6 million euros ($782 million), and 3 percent rise in yearly revenue, to 11.1 billion euros ($13.5 billion) (S)

Walt Disney Co's chairman and chief executive Michael D Eisner will face emboldened investor class at annual meeting, one armed and ready to challenge managers more sharply than at any time in recent memory; many shareholders appears to believe that in post-Enron era, criticism of companies is warranted, especially on executive pay practices and overly compliant boards; photo (Market Place column) (M)

It's become fashionable for opera directors to portray Mozart's Don Giovanni as a rapacious sexual predator. A recent production at the Salzburg Festival peopled the stage with haunted, vacant-eyed, barely clad women of all ages, a phantom gallery of Giovanni's victims. The director Marthe Keller, making her Metropolitan Opera debut in a triumphant new production of ''Don Giovanni'' that opened on Monday night, has no patience with such shallow takes on this most multilayered of operas.