December 28, 2004

After setting the record for touchdown passes in a season, and after engineering the kind of comeback drive for which quarterbacks are remembered, Peyton Manning stood in the bar at St. Elmo Steak House and faced another devastating rush. He and his family had gone for a celebratory dinner Sunday evening in a private room at St. Elmo, but when they headed out around 7:30 p.m., it seemed the whole city was waiting for them in the adjoining bar. Manning, always mindful of his Southern manners, could not leave without at least saying hello.

World Business BrA

Experts at Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu had no way of knowing that earthquake that struck off Indonesia had generated devastating tsunami and no way to warn people most likely to suffer; sequence of events as knowledge of earthquake, tsunami and destruction unfolded suggest speed and precision of science and modern communication, as well as their limits; scientists do not have tools to tell when earthquake has created one; for Pacific Ocean, there are computer models to analyze consequences of earthquake, based on years of observations of previous quakes and tsunamis; for Indian Ocean, where tsunamis are rare, there are no such models (M)

Are you ready for the Outback Bowl -- or would you prefer the Jackaroo Chops and Toowoomba Pasta from the steakhouse chain that the bowl is named for? Perhaps you are aware that Wisconsin is playing Georgia in the Outback Bowl on Saturday in Tampa, Fla., and that the Badgers and the Bulldogs will be paid $2.75 million each.

Iraqi Party Office Is Bombed A bomb exploded outside the Baghdad headquarters of Iraq's largest Shiite political party, killing 9 people and wounding 67. PAGE A9 Election Boycott Urged In a tape on Al Jazeera, a voice said to be that of Al Qaeda's leader urged Iraqis to boycott elections and support a leading insurgent. PAGE A9 A Victor, and a Challenge The opposition leader is the winner in Ukraine's presidential race, but his opponent vows a court challenge. PAGE A3 5 Risks, 5 Altered Lives A look at how five seriously ill patients who gambled on experimental or unproven treatments have fared. SCIENCE TIMES, PAGE F1