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.

Former Worldcom chief executive Bernard J Ebbers is indicted on federal charges of helping to plan and execute biggest accounting fraud in American business history; Scott D Sullivan, company's former chief accounting officer, named in indictment, pleads guilty and plans to cooperate with prosecutors; Atty Gen John Ashcroft announces move to try Ebbers for securities fraud, conspiring to commit fraud and role in filing false corporate records with Securities and Exchange Commission, news conference; SEC enforcement official Stephen M Cutler says scandal shook world's faith in integrity of financial markets; photos (M)

Profile of and interview with Marina Golbahari, 13, star of Siddiq Barmak's award-winning Afghan film Osama; Golbahari, despite new clothes and two-room family home bought with help of Barmak and Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, remains poor in Kabul; photos (M)

Number of visitors to New Zealand rose 10.6 percent in January, to 244,300, led by tourists from Australia, Britain and US (S)

Informa Group and Taylor & Francis Group plan to combine to create $2.02 billion science and medical publisher and organizer of events; combined company will be called T&G Informa; graph (S)

Dan Barry About New York column discusses Hospital Audiences Inc, which provides recovering alcoholics and addicts at Coney Island Hospital's substance abuse clinic (NYC) with entertainment as means of teaching addicts how to socialize in sober settings (M)

Bris, Jewish circumcision ritual for eight-day-old boys, has, for some, become more elaborate, with families gathering at country clubs or upscale restaurants and hotels for catered parties; majority of brises are still performed at home or in synagogues; photo; drawing (M)

Mount Carmel/Holy Rosary School in East Harlem (NY) struggles to raise $125,000 by fast-approaching deadline set by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York to keep school open after declining local economy has resulted in decreased enrollment and increased debts; photos (M)