October 27, 2004

Campaigns Differ Over Missing Explosives John Kerry attacked President Bush over the disappearance in Iraq of a huge cache of powerful explosives, charging that the president's response to ''devastating facts'' about the explosives called in question his competence as commander in chief. White House officials suggested that the explosives may have disappeared while Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq. PAGE A17 A 2000 Sequel May Loom Election lawyers say that provisional ballots by voters whose names cannot be found on the rolls could be decisive in some states, raising the possibility that the presidential race will not be immediately decided and will turn on court decisions. PAGE A14 Iraq's Prime Minister Faults U.S. Military in Massacre Prime Minister Ayad Allawi accused the American-led military of ''major negligence'' in the killing of 49 Iraqi soldiers on Saturday, but Americans said the blame fell entirely on the guerrilla attackers. Near Falluja, senior Marine officers said a major offensive to reclaim the city from insurgents was probably inevitable, and it would be the largest and potentially the riskiest one since May 2003. PAGES A10, A11 Red Sox Take 3-0 Lead Pedro Martínez, in his World Series debut, allowed 3 hits in 7 innings to lead Boston to a 4-1 victory over St. Louis. Only a Yankee-like collapse will prevent the Red Sox from winning their first World Series since 1918. SPORTSWEDNESDAY Increase in Matching Funds Taking direct aim at New York's billionaire mayor, a City Council panel has voted to increase the amount of public money available to candidates facing wealthy, self-financed opponents in time for the 2005 city elections. PAGE B1 SPECIAL TODAY Cars Cleaner cars are headed for the comfort zone of the latte generation, as a new set of hybrids arrives with combined electric and gasoline engines offering better mileage without the trade-offs of earlier models. Judging by the waiting lists for luxury models like the Lexus RX400h, car buyers who simply want to visit gas stations less often are finding the idea of hybrids attractive. SECTION G

New York City Council panel votes to increase amount of public money available to candidates facing wealthy, self-financed opponents; would allow certain contributions to be matched six to one with public funds, increase from current maximum of five to one; higher match would kick in for races where spending by mayoral candidate exceeds $17 million, and $450,000 for Council candidates; increase is driven by concern over Mayor Michael E Bloomberg's ability to finance his own campaign; could add $4 million to amount city pays out in matching funds; Bloomberg calls bill ultimate backroom deal and offers his own proposal for campaign finance reforms (M)

Millions of newly registered voters, nearly 750,000 in Ohio alone, are wild cards whose uncertain allegiances could tip vote in closely contested states like Ohio, Iowa, Florida and Pennsylvania, where registration drives, largely by Democratic groups, have increased rolls to record levels; more people may vote than at any time since 1992, although only those who registered because of intense interest in race are highly likely to cast ballots; photo of one, Christopher Marshall, who will cast first vote, at age 37, for John Kerry because of Pres Bush's Iraq war; Ohio Democrats charge Republican antifraud campaign is attempt to suppress Democratic support, particularly in black areas; polls find Kerry leading among first-time voters and college students (M)

American Ballet Theater, taking cost-cutting measures, is freezing pay, cutting positions and canceling tour performances; about 50 staff members will take one-week furlough without pay and many will not receive raises this year; chief financial officer Rachel Pivnick says chronic budget deficit dropped from $1.3 million to 'well under' $1 million in fiscal 2004 (M)

Tracey Riebenfeld testifies that Daniel Pelosi, her ex-boyfriend, told her that he beat Theodore Ammon to death in his East Hampton, NY, mansion on Oct 20, 2001; says Generosa Ammon, victim's wife, accompanied him there to turn away any visitors; says Pelosi was also accompanied by Chris Parrino, his nephew, and Jeff Lukert, but does not say why they were there; says Pelosi told her he hated Generosa Ammon but would stay with her because he feared she might frame him for murder; says that five days after murder, Pelosi asked her to provide alibi for him; photo (M)

Japan's Softbank Corp will acquire Japanese unit of Cable & Wireless for 12.3 billion yen ($115 million) to expand fledgling telecommunications business (S)

Movie director David Gordon Green, 29, went to New Orleans to make a film of John Kennedy Toole's cult novel, A Confederacy of Dances; has had to shelve plans for film, but meanwhile has settled down in New Orleans; his third feature, Undertow, which was released last week, continues his exploration of the South; photo (M)

AFTER a long month of derisive and humiliating daddy talk, Pedro Martínez had to bow only to a couple of his Dominican brothers last night at Busch Stadium. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz had his back and together they took the Red Sox to the threshold of redemption after 86 years of October futility. Martínez made his first World Series game one for the family album, pitching seven three-hit, shutout innings in a 4-1 Game 3 victory. This time, Manager Terry Francona went straight to his bullpen at the start of the eighth inning, with Martínez's pitch count at 98, risking no late-inning miscalculation that would have nullified all the good work by the controversial pitcher with the long curly locks and the sad, narrow eyes.

R W Apple Jr reports on covering presidential election in Midwest, indulging in favorite sweets and discovering new ones; says cherry pie, custard and cinnamon rolls are front-runners in swing states; photos (L)

Article in series John Kerry's Journey discusses his Senate record of nearly twenty years, particularly evolution from voting against Persian Gulf War in 1991 to reluctant support for measure authorizing Pres Bush to disarm Saddam Hussein in 2002; Kerry was ranked most liberal senator for roll-call votes in 2003, but career voting is less predictable; he has backed environmental regulation, gay rights and gun control, but also joined Republicans in early calls to control deficit and questioned raising minimum wage in 1995, voting overall as cold-eyed realist; he says he did not believe Bush would be 'quite so arrogant' to invade Iraq unilaterally and thought Hussein threat could not be ignored, but said at time that threat had to be imminent and multilateral options not possible; Kerry sided with bulk of Democratic colleagues both times; Sen Joseph Biden explains similar views; Kerry is personally close to few senators, like John McCain, but friends are mostly outside politics; photos; Raymond Flynn, who helped put Kerry in office in Mass, notes lack of camaraderie unusual in politician (M)

Walt Disney Co's former Michael S Ovitz vigorously defends his 14-month tenure, saying his efforts to expand and improve company were undercut at nearly every turn by recalcitrant senior executives and chief executive Michael D Eisner; is witness in trial of lawsuit filed by Disney shareholders, who contend its board of directors breached its fiduciary responsibility when Eisner hired Ovitz as president in 1995 and then signed off on severance package valued at $140 million 14 months later; spends much of his four hours of testimony decribing how his vision for substantially different Disney was thwarted; photo (M)

Many economists and business leaders warn that economic recovery in Brazil could start losing steam as early as 2005 if government does not find ways to attract billions of dollars in investment to remedy Brazil's infrastructure; economy is expanding at its fastest clip since 1996 and is on course to grow more than 4 percent this year thanks to boom in exports; trucks carrying soybeans and grain have faced a wait of as much as 20 days to reach port of Paranagua in southern portion of country; similar bottlenecks and weak infrastructure can be found across country; photo (M)