October 6, 2005

Iraqi National Assembly, bowing to strong pressure from United Nations, votes to cancel last-minute rule change that all but guaranteed passage of new constitution in Oct 15 referendum; Sunni Arab leaders had accused Shiite and Kurdish leaders of trying to rig referendum; Shiite leaders who vote to cancel rule change say they reserve right to challenge results if constitution fails in vote; their fear is that insurgents might manipulate vote by attacking Shiites to keep them away from polls; dispute sharpens sectarian divisions over constitution, and uneasy resolution seems to open door to further dissent, especially if violence worsens; in Washington, State Dept spokesman calls reversal of controversial rule 'a positive step'; photos (M)

Just because the Boston Red Sox won the World Series last season does not mean that baseball cannot torture them on occasion. Should the Red Sox lose their American League division series with the White Sox, their fans will have another name to curse. No one can legitimately compare Tony Graffanino to Bill Buckner, but his error in the fifth inning Wednesday night was brutal and memorable nonetheless.

Charles Isherwood reviews Tall Horse, collaboration between Handspring and Sogolon, African puppet-theater companies, written by Khephra Burns and directed by Marthinus Basson, part of Next Wave Festival; photo (M)

HERE on the Kitsap Peninsula, thousands of miles from the clipped hedges of the Hamptons, a wild, free-spirited hand is at play in the garden. There is a heady synergy on the misty islands in Puget Sound just west of Seattle, where nurseries and their catalogs disseminate plants from all over the world -- and where gardeners are using them in original ways.

MELANIE SOVERN, a 15-year-old with thick black hair and forgiving eyes, often feels her mother's tug when she is alone in her room after school. It is during those moments that she will reach for the videotape, slide it into the machine and settle back into her mother's words, the richness of her voice, the solace of her smile. ''Try not to wear heels,'' Melanie's mother, Gail Sovern, says on the tape. ''Dyeing your hair is O.K. A little pink or purple is good,'' her mother continues, and ''ear piercing is O.K., at 11 or 12.'' Fast-forward and there is Gail, then 39, in her bathrobe, laughing and dancing to ''Tie a Yellow Ribbon,'' with Melanie, then 5, clinging to one arm, and her sister, Lindsay, 3, snuggled into the other.