Sunday July 9, 2006

The Final Word: “Never Tell Me The Odds! Edition”

(The media experiment in which we conjoin the headline and last paragraph of each bylined article in the A-section of today's New York Times.)

Page 1

Surprising Jump in Tax Revenues Is Curbing Deficit:

"Spending has not been restrained," Mr. Riedl said. "One hundred percent of the reduced deficit is because taxpayers are sending more money to Washington."

U.S. to Negotiate Russian Storage of Atomic Waste:

But the report also cited such an agreement as a way to foster cooperation on securing spent fuel and providing nuclear energy to nonnuclear nations seeking to develop their own enrichment facilities.

Ally Warned Bush on Keeping Spying From Congress:

A spokesman for Mr. Negroponte's office said he had not yet replied to the complaint.

At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust:

"I think men do better out in the world because they care more about the power, the status, the C.E.O. job," Mr. Kohn said. "And maybe society holds men a little higher."

Investors Lead Home Sale Boom in New Orleans:

"They feel that what happened was unusual, and they don't feel that this will happen again," she said of the levee breaches and catastrophic flooding. "They feel they will be fine."

France's Aging Magician Conjures a Final Trick:

Even if, by Sunday night, it is again beaming from the Arc de Triomphe.

Zidane's Next Team May Be Red Bulls "No doubt Youri's mother is sick, but it's not far-fetched to think that Youri went there to talk to Zidane," Shep Messing, a TV analyst for ESPN and the Red Bulls, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Houston. "Why wouldn't he come to New York to play for a year? Will he? I really don't know."

Other News

New Medicine for AIDS Is One Pill, Once a Day:

Dr. Cohen, an adviser to Gilead, Bristol-Myers and other drug manufacturers, said there was already some concern among AIDS experts that having a once-a-day treatment would make people lose their fear of H.I.V. "We still want people to respect that prevention of the disease is better than treatment," he said.

Recent Arrests in Terror Plots Yield Debate on Pre-emptive Action by Government:

"We are dangerously putting people at risk if somehow we believe that only criminal masterminds or terrorist masterminds are a threat," he said.

Rockets Create a 'Balance of Fear' With Israel, Gaza Residents Say:

Last month, the Israeli security forces killed 42 Palestinians, including 24 who were not involved in the fighting, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group. Most of the deaths were in Gaza. Three Israelis were killed in June, two of them soldiers and one a civilian.

Plane With 200 Aboard Crashes Past Runway in Siberia:

The airline lost another of its planes in August 2004 when a suicide bomber destroyed a Tupolev-154 as it was flying from Moscow to Sochi. A bomb destroyed a second plane in simultaneous terrorist attacks that killed 90 people.

Leftist Predicts Unrest Without Complete Recount of Mexican Election:

"They want to turn the page, but things are not that way," Mr. López Obrador said. "This is just started."

Corzine Ends Shutdown and Approves New Budget:

Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, have said that they fear the potential political consequences of the tax increase.

Mauresmo Conquers Nerves to Win Title:

Nor was there anything calm about the celebration. "I didn't get that moment in Australia, but I had it here," she said. "And it was fabulous."

Without a Team in the Final, Germany Achieves a Victory:

It will take genius to break the Italian padlock. France has a rational, well-marshaled team, but it also has a touch of the magical elixir. Just how much of it Zidane and company can produce will decide the outcome.

In a U-Turn Quarter, a Retreat From Risk:

Investors enjoyed huge returns with seemingly little risk even in highly volatile investments at the start of the year. But that was when equity prices were going through the roof. If the second quarter proved anything, Mr. Schappe said, it was that "risk is being put back" into the risk-return relationship.

Music Review: After an Injury, a Maestro Returns in Fighting Form:

To be resolved is whether concerts like this one can sustain the same energy. Mr. Levine is 63 — not old at all in this notoriously long-lived trade, but a serious age for someone coming back from such severe muscular trauma.

Guggenheim Foundation and Abu Dhabi Plan Museum There:

While Mr. Gehry said it was far too early to describe a possible design, he predicted that it would not resemble his sinuous stone, glass and titanium Bilbao. "I don't think I repeat myself," he said.

International

Pope Visits Spain, Flash Point for Church-State Tensions:

Despite the spirited welcome Valencia gave the pope, the city remained in a mourning, after 42 people were killed here when a subway train derailed this week. Benedict's first stop after arriving here was the Jesús Street metro station, where the accident happened. He prayed and laid a wreath, and later comforted weeping family members in Valencia's cathedral.

Ramos-Horta Is Appointed New Premier of East Timor:

While East Timor has one of the world's lowest per capita incomes, it possesses large oil deposits and has recently accrued more than $600 million in oil revenue that remains virtually untouched. Mr. Ramos-Horta said in a recent interview that it was imperative for a new government to provide employment programs.

Palestinian Prime Minister Calls for a Truce With Israel and New Talks:

The Israeli Army said that troops had regulations about requisitioning houses and that it would investigate all allegations of wrongdoing.

Top Anglicans Vote to Allow Female Bishops:

The Church of England resolution was passed Saturday morning after a three-hour debate by a vote of 288 to 110. It carried more than a two-thirds majority among bishops and clergy members within the Synod, meaning that it should be possible for the group to agree on legislation to put the system into practice, which requires a two-thirds vote.

Sunni Politicians May Expand Boycott Over Kidnapping:

Three mortar rounds killed at least three Iraqi civilians and wounded at least seven on Saturday, police officials said. And on Friday night, a mortar attack on a children's playing field in northern Baghdad killed four children and injured 38, the American military said.

U.S. Military Braces for Flurry of Criminal Cases in Iraq:

Some members of the military juries are likely to have served in Iraq, and are familiar with the chaotic atmosphere surrounding any decision to use force. "The presumption of innocence is going to reign supreme," Mr. Gittins said.

After TV Debates, Pakistan May Ease Laws on Rape Reporting:

Nasreen Azhar of Action Aid, one of the signers of the statement, said in an interview: "It is beyond amendment. We all have seen the negative effects it has had on women."

Afghan and Coalition Forces Strike Taliban:

Mr. Wardak denied it was Afghan tradition to allow travelers from other regions to stay in mosques, and he called on local clerics to halt the practice. "This is not part of tradition in Kandahar," he said. "A mosque is not a restaurant."