Today's Headlines & Columnists 
| Saturday, May 2, 2009 | | | | |
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 | | | | | | | Top News
Ever-Changing Virus Challenges Drugmakers
The swine flu virus is a wily foe whose central weapon against humans is its ability to rapidly change its form. But the virus also benefits from the slow pace at which people technologically adapt to it.
(By Shankar Vedantam and Michael Rosenwald, The Washington Post)
Md. Schools Hit by Flu Staying Shut For a While
Officials in Montgomery, Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties yesterday announced extended closures of three schools to isolate children exposed to likely cases of swine flu, urging students in those schools to avoid public places and warning of more potential shutdowns in the days ahead.
(By Daniel de Vise and David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post)
Not the Justice Republicans Expected
Justice David Hackett Souter started on the Supreme Court's right, very briefly became part of its center and then for a much longer period was firmly established on the left. Conservatives and liberals are not finished debating whether he's the one who drifted or if the court itself moved.
(By Robert Barnes, The Washington Post)
U.S. Says Iraq Is Withholding Key Detainee
BAGHDAD, May 1 -- U.S. military officials said Friday that the Iraqi government has not allowed them to interrogate a detainee the Iraqis contend is the leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
(By Ernesto Londoño, The Washington Post)
U.S. Drops Case Against Ex-Lobbyists
Federal prosecutors yesterday abandoned an espionage-law case against two former lobbyists for a pro-Israel advocacy group, a case that had transfixed much of official Washington because of its potential to criminalize the exchange of sensitive information among journalists, lobbyists and policy...
(By Jerry Markon, The Washington Post)
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Politics
Successor To Souter Anticipated By October
President Obama said yesterday that he plans to move quickly to name a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, as senators and interest groups on both ends of the ideological spectrum began mobilizing for the first court confirmation battle of his presidency.
(By Michael A. Fletcher and Paul Kane, The Washington Post)
U.S. Drops Case Against Ex-Lobbyists
Federal prosecutors yesterday abandoned an espionage-law case against two former lobbyists for a pro-Israel advocacy group, a case that had transfixed much of official Washington because of its potential to criminalize the exchange of sensitive information among journalists, lobbyists and policy...
(By Jerry Markon, The Washington Post)
Expert Groups Largely Back Obama's Nuclear Stance
Two bipartisan panels of nuclear weapons experts are endorsing much of President Obama's ambitious arms-control effort in advance of next week's nonproliferation talks here between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
(By Walter Pincus, The Washington Post)
Paper Firms Cashing In Before Loophole Plugged
Federal government payments to the U.S. paper industry continued to mount during the first quarter, as companies raced to take advantage of a loophole that richly rewards them for a long-established method of burning byproducts of the pulping process.
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)
Not the Justice Republicans Expected
Justice David Hackett Souter started on the Supreme Court's right, very briefly became part of its center and then for a much longer period was firmly established on the left. Conservatives and liberals are not finished debating whether he's the one who drifted or if the court itself moved.
(By Robert Barnes, The Washington Post)
More Politics
Europe
Britain Pays to Keep Suspects From U.S. Hands
The British government has paid nearly $900,000 in legal fees on behalf of three associates of Osama bin Laden who have fended off attempts by the U.S. government to extradite them for a decade, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
(By Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post)
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Middle East
U.N. Finds 60,000 Palestinians Risk Eviction in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, May 1 -- Since he was a boy in the 1940s, Mazen Abu Diab has seen houses pop up steadily in the Bustan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, slowly filling a strip of land just outside the walled Old City with what are now about 88 homes.
(By Howard Schneider, The Washington Post)
U.S. Says Iraq Is Withholding Key Detainee
BAGHDAD, May 1 -- U.S. military officials said Friday that the Iraqi government has not allowed them to interrogate a detainee the Iraqis contend is the leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
(By Ernesto Londoño, The Washington Post)
More Middle East
Business
On This Chrysler, Tenacity Comes Standard
CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- Past Todd's Body Shop and a crab shack, across from a field of wheat on Route 291, hangs a modest sign for Frank B. Rhodes Jr., furniture maker since 1983.
(By Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington Post)
All Eyes Turn to GM And Its Bondholders
As Chrysler began its journey through bankruptcy in a New York courtroom yesterday, members of the administration's autos task force had already turned their focus toward a larger and more daunting problem: General Motors.
(By Brady Dennis and Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post)
Paper Firms Cashing In Before Loophole Plugged
Federal government payments to the U.S. paper industry continued to mount during the first quarter, as companies raced to take advantage of a loophole that richly rewards them for a long-established method of burning byproducts of the pulping process.
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)
At Chrysler, From Hero to Zero
NEW YORK, May 1 -- Chrysler early last year was so flush with cash and optimism that the firm's owners decided to repay a $3 billion loan to its lenders, believing that a turnaround for the company was just about to begin.
(By Kendra Marr, The Washington Post)
It's Not Your Fault. It's Theirs.
Richard A. Posner, the idiosyncratic and prolific federal jurist, has just published his book for this month: a surprising volume that explains what happened to the banking system and economy in terms the lay reader can easily understand.
(Review by Paul M. Barrett, The Washington Post)
More Business
Books
Who Won Feminism?
Why strong women don't have to sacrifice their softer qualities to be taken seriously.
(By Naomi Wolf, The Washington Post)
Tracking Sasquatch Lore, Sizable Zeal Is Always Afoot
BIGFOOT The Life and Times of a Legend By Joshua Blu Buhs
(By David Laskin, The Washington Post)
The Key in Lincoln's Pocket
Winston Groom's "Vicksburg, 1863" details Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's strategically vital campaign through the Mississippi Valley.
(Review by Ernest B. Furgurson, The Washington Post)
A Queen for the Ages
On the evidence of "Cleopatra and Antony," I'd say Diana Preston is a thoroughgoing pro. Her research is careful and deep; her prose is lively and graceful.
(By Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post)
Washington Bestsellers/Paperback
Rankings reflect sales for the week ended April 26, 2009. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from Nielsen BookScan. Copyright © 2009 by Nielsen BookScan. (The right-hand column of numbers represents weeks on this list, which premiered in Book World on Jan. 11, 2004. The bestseller...
(The Washington Post)
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Entertainment News
NBC Universal programming exec Nora O'Brien dies
NEW YORK -- NBC Universal says Nora O'Brien, its executive in charge of drama programming, has died.
(AP)
Las Vegas Strip performer Danny Gans dies at 52
LAS VEGAS -- Singer-actor-impressionist Danny Gans, who spent more than a decade as one of the most popular entertainers in Las Vegas, died Friday. He was 52. Gans was pronounced dead in his bed shortly after police and paramedics were summoned to his home about 3:45 a.m., said police spokesman Todd...
(By KEN RITTER, AP)
Xtreme offers bilingual reality
MIAMI (Billboard) - Music duo Xtreme has generated a loyal following, as evidenced by the nearly 4.4 million visits to the group's MySpace page and a busy road schedule that includes gigs at venues ranging from clubs to college campuses. And now it's about to become the subject of a reality show.
(By Leila Cobo, Reuters)
Review: Met offers elegant revival of 'Cinderella'
NEW YORK -- As light and elegant as the wedding cake that fills the stage for the final scene, Rossini's "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella") is helping to usher out the Metropolitan Opera season _ providing a nice contrast to the heavier diet of Wagner's "Ring" cycle.
(By MIKE SILVERMAN, AP)
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
"Angels & Demons" set for glitzy Rome premiere ROME (Reuters) - After exposing a Church cover-up in "The Da Vinci Code," symbologist Robert Langdon returns to the big screen as an unlikely Vatican ally in the latest movie adaptation of a novel by author Dan Brown. "Angels & Demons," again starring...
(Reuters)
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Movies
Going for What Broke
The Washington-based journalist Leslie Cockburn has made television documentaries before, for "Frontline" and "60 Minutes." She even co-produced "The Peacemaker," starring George Clooney. But she and her husband and co-producer, Andrew, are finally making their feature documentary debut with "Ame...
(The Washington Post)
More Movies
Museums
A Bigger Picture Emerges
We've heard a lot about how the economy is bad for the arts, but the current downturn brings with it some upsides:
(The Washington Post)
Scathing Beauties
The spirit of the waters is changeable, and ripples, and is allied with the moon, and is, of course, a she.
(By Paul Richard, The Washington Post)
Stage of Emergency
As the world's richest art institution, the J. Paul Getty Trust has never been too concerned about pinching pennies. Visitors to the Getty Museum complex in the posh Brentwood section of Los Angeles are bathed in opulence from the moment they arrive. Awaiting them in the parking lot is a...
(By Paul Farhi and Jacqueline Trescott, The Washington Post)
Sister, Can You Spare a Smile?
"Slowpoke," the syndicated alt-weekly comic by Jen Sorensen, often feels like a misnomer of a title. Read almost any new "Slowpoke" and it seems as if the Charlottesville cartoonist is responding so rapid-fire to the news, the title is rendered downright ironic.
(The Washington Post)
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Music
If You Get Your Act Together, You Can Take a Fee Pass
Scoring tickets to a hot concert is thrilling. And then you get to the checkout, where convenience charges and building-facility and order-processing fees can bump up your bill by 70 percent, making you feel like you're buying a condo, not tickets to U2.
(The Washington Post)
A Discount-Opera Outlet?
Since the 58-year-old Baltimore Opera Company filed for bankruptcy in March, the future of opera in Charm City has been in question. Enter Giorgio Lalov, a Bulgarian-born impresario who for 20-plus years has headed a touring opera outfit called the Teatro Lirico D'Europa; who happens to live in B...
(The Washington Post)
Concert Industry Responds to Fans Caught Between Rock and a Hard Place
Anyone who says you can't get something for nothing hasn't tried buying a concert ticket lately.
(By Melinda Newman, The Washington Post)
More Music
Science
The Endless Options of the College Tour
We don't take family vacations anymore, we just make college tours.
(By Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post)
More Science
Personal Tech
Allio ATVI-3G4542 42-inch HDTV With Built-In PC
For $2800 (as of April 22, 2009), you'd expect to get more than a 42-inch LCD HDTV. And sure enough, the Allio ATVI-3G4542 gives you more--a built-in, 64-bit personal computer running Windows Vista Home Premium. But the HDTV and PC components of the ATVI-3G4542 don't play well together, and each is...
(Lincoln Spector, PC World, PC World)
T-Mobile Sidekick LX 3G Cell Phone
The newest version of the Sidekick LX ($200 with a two-year contract, as of 5/1/09), T-Mobile's popular messaging phone traditionally aimed at teenagers, sports grown-up features such as 3G support, GPS, and an improved, more sophisticated design. But unfortunately the Sidekick LX still has a few...
(Ginny Mies, PC World, PC World)
More Personal Tech
Health
Ever-Changing Virus Challenges Drugmakers
The swine flu virus is a wily foe whose central weapon against humans is its ability to rapidly change its form. But the virus also benefits from the slow pace at which people technologically adapt to it.
(By Shankar Vedantam and Michael Rosenwald, The Washington Post)
Governors Differ On Flu Response
When they awoke Monday to the increasing reality of a swine flu pandemic, top officials on either side of the Potomac chose virtually identical words to reassure the worried public.
(By Ashley Halsey III and Anita Kumar, The Washington Post)
China Confirms First Swine Flu Case
BEIJING, May 2 -- Chinese authorities confirmed the country's first case of swine flu on Friday evening and put into full swing a meticulously planned program to contain the outbreak.
(By Jill Drew, The Washington Post)
Concerned by Flu's Spread, Dioceses Urge Changes in Services
Worshipers attending religious services this weekend might encounter special measures being taken to help protect against the spread of the swine flu virus.
(The Washington Post)
Mexican Officials Say Flu's Ability to Spread May Be Low
MEXICO CITY, May 1 -- Mexican health officials studying the new influenza virus said Friday they have found that its ability to spread from person to person may be fairly low, raising hopes that the extreme measures taken here -- the shutting down of all nonessential commerce and government -- ca...
(By William Booth, Anne-Marie O'Connor and Joshua Partlow, The Washington Post)
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