March 23, 2004

Wall Street executives continued to receive big paychecks in 2003 despite investor outrage; Citigroup's chief executive Sanford I Weill and Merrill Lynch's chief E Stanley O'Neal collected their biggest paychecks ever in 2003--$44 million and $28 million; Bear Stearns' head James E Cayne received three times as much in stock options as he did year before, receiving $27 million last year compared with $19.6 million in 2002; companies that reduced pay of their chief executives despite healthy performances included MetLife, American Express and MBNA Corp; American Express paid chief executive Kenneth I Chenault 18 percent less in 2003 than in 2002, despite 36 percent rise in its share price; J P Morgan Chase's chief William B Harrison and Goldman Sachs Group's head Henry M Paulson Jr each received $20 million in 2003; graph; photos (M)

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Food and Drug Administration issues public health advisory on antidepressants, warning that patients taking them can become suicidal in first weeks of therapy; says doctors should watch patients closely when first giving drugs or changing dosages; agency is asking drug manufacturers to place detailed caveats about drugs' side effects prominantly on their labels; agency issues advisory despite fact that no studies have shown convincing link between drug therapy and suicide; regulators say suicide is such a rare side effect that studies on subject have been difficult to interpret; series of secret studies conducted by drug companies that became public last year seemed to show that depressed children and teenagers given antidepressants were more likely to become suicidal than those given placebos; studies also showed that most antidepressants were not effective in treating depression in children and teenagers; FDA is still reviewing those studies; scientific advisory panel urged FDA to issue stronger warnings about possible link between antidepressants and suicide in teenagers and children; Dr Jeffrey Lieberman, psychiatry and pharmacology professor, says agency's action suggests that physicians have become too casual about dispensing antidepressants (M)

Sheik Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of militant group Hamas, is heralded as new unifying martyr by tens of thousands of Palestinians who flock to Gaza for his funeral; killing of Yassin by Israeli missile attack will almost certainly deepen divide between current Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, possibly ruling out further negotiations between them over Bush administration's sidelined peace plan; it is measure of Yassin's status as icon to Palestinians and as perceived threat to Israelis that his death seems to hold consequences for every player in conflict, from Israelis and Palestinians to Egyptians and Americans; Prime Min Ariel Sharon of Israel calls Yassin 'archmurderer' committed to killing Jews and destroying state of Israel, while Palestinian Prime Min Ahmed Qurei calls Yassin 'great leader'; Yasir Arafat, for whom Yassin was leading rival as national symbol, calls him 'martyr'; Israeli officials repeatedly compare Yassin to Osama bin Laden; Arab and European nations condemn killing of Yassin; Bush administration says it is 'troubled' by killing, but national security adviser Condoleezza Rice notes that Hamas is terrorist organization and Yassin is believed to have personally been involved in terrorist planning; photos (L)

Electrician Daniel Pelosi is indicted and ordered to appear in Suffolk County (NY) court, where he is expected to be charged with murder of multimillionaire R Theodore Ammon in his East Hampton (NY) home; married Ammon's widow Generosa, who died after separating from Pelosi; photos (M)