Abu Musab al-Zarqawi praised the insurgents and denounced the efforts to form a new Iraqi government.

Qaeda Video Vows Iraq Defeat for 'Crusader' U.S.

Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan would be the highest-ranking officer to face charges tied to abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

Abuse Charge Set for a U.S. Colonel

After reading Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast," Jon Rowley experienced a kind of epiphany that shaped not only his life but, eventually, the oyster culture of the Pacific Northwest.

The Oyster Is His World

The fate of a gifted high school student could hinge on immigration legislation being debated in Congress. 

Student's Prize Is a Trip Into Immigration Limbo

Jane Jacobs's book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" changed the way people view urban development.

Jane Jacobs, Social Critic Who Redefined and Championed Cities, Is Dead at 89

Early spring greens are welcome respite from long months of root vegetables; wild greens, like fiddlehead ferns, require care in cleaning and, for some, are acquired taste; photos; recipes (M)

Out of the Winter And Into the Weeds

Tony Snow, the Fox News commentator, has agreed to become the White House press secretary, administration officials said. Page A16.  

New Press Secretary Chosen

TOM PLASKETT was sitting on a flight from Boston to Dallas one day in 1980 with a problem that needed solving.     At 36 years old, Mr. Plaskett had just inherited the top marketing job at American Airlines from the famously intense Robert L. Crandall, who had become the company president. Mr. Crandall, like hundreds of other executives before and since, was looking for a way to keep customers loyal to his company.  

What Price Loyalty? Something Free

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses New Jersey Nets and Vince Carter, who are preparing for Game 3 of first-round playoffs after Game 2 win against Indiana Pacers; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Carter Is Making the Nets a Hot Ticket

New York Yankees defeat Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-1; photos (M)5

Mussina Baffles While the Yanks Pour On the Runs

Peter Applebome Our Towns column on Cliff Berger of Tarrytown, NY, who protests war in Iraq by sending e-mails listing daily totals of troop casualties and encourages recipients to join protest (M)

Antiwar Dad Lets Fingers Do Marching

A small, troubled high school in East Harlem seemed an unlikely place to find students for a nationwide robot-building contest, but when a neighborhood after-school program started a team last winter, 19 students signed up. One was Amadou Ly, a senior who had been fending for himself since he was 14.     The project had only one computer and no real work space. Engineering advice came from an elevator mechanic and a machinist's son without a college degree. But in an upset that astonished its sponsors, the rookie team from East Harlem won the regional competition last month, beating rivals from elite schools like Stuyvesant in Manhattan and the Bronx High School of Science for a chance to compete in the national robotics finals in Atlanta that begins tomorrow.  

R W Apple Jr article profiles Jon Rowley, expert on and promoter of oysters; Rowley's favorite oyster is found near Puget Sound; different types of oysters described; photos (L)

New York Rangers prepare for Game 3 of playoffs, hoping that team can win game against New Jersey Devils without star player Jaromir Jagr, who is injured; photo (M)

Without Jagr, Rangers Try to Find Inspiration

Four teens are charged with kidnapping 13-year-old Mara Downes in Ramapo, NY; Donald Siler, Jamahl Siler, Chantia Marshall and Mitzi Mijangos planned kidnapping following theft of Downes's father's car during which they found 'an item' leading them to think Downes family was well off and would pay ransom; photos (M)

Police Describe How Car Theft Led to a Bungled Kidnapping

Audio tapes are played in courtroom during trial of Shahawar Matin Siraj, who is accused of plotting to blow up Herald Square subway station in Manhattan; tapes were made during 2004 car ride with Osama Eldawoody, naturalized American who was police informer; Siraj friend James Elshafay was arrested with Siraj, pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against him; photos (M)

In Tapes of Subway Plot Suspect, a Disjointed Torrent of Hatred

 Chernobyl Recalled  Chernobyl still haunts, 20 years after the reactor explosion there spread its radioactive plume. Burgen Karapetyan was a helicopter pilot then.    PAGE A8    Terrorism Conviction  A Pakistani-American was convicted on terrorism charges in California, while a mistrial was declared in the case of his father, accused of lying to investigators.    PAGE A17    Mick Jagger, Sitcom Star  Well, it has broad appeal. A fall sitcom pilot on ABC is to feature Mick Jagger. Its story line: robbing his apartment.    THE ARTS, PAGE E1    Small-Business Chief Resigns  Hector V. Barreto resigned as head of the Small Business Administration, which was criticized as approving loans too slowly after Hurricane Katrina.    PAGE A13    Sri Lanka Bomber Kills 9  A suicide bomber disguised as a pregnant woman attacked Sri Lanka's military headquarters, killing at least nine people.    PAGE A10.

INSIDE

New show at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum features silverware, including array of rare serving pieces; passionate defenders of declining art form see show as chance to revive stature silver once had at table; photos (M)

A Tool for Every Treat

The Army plans to charge Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, the former head of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, with dereliction of duty, lying to investigators and conduct unbecoming an officer, Army officials and a lawyer for the officer said on Tuesday.      Colonel Jordan would be the highest-ranking officer at Abu Ghraib to face criminal charges in connection with the abuses at the prison. Ten low-ranking soldiers who served at the prison outside Baghdad have been convicted.  

The developer Larry A. Silverstein announced yesterday that he had accepted the economic terms of a new deal at ground zero. The proposal reduces his overall role on the 16-acre site and clears the way for construction of the Freedom Tower, the tallest and most symbolically important of five towers planned for the site.     The deal calls for Mr. Silverstein to surrender control of the $2 billion Freedom Tower, along with more than one third of the ground zero site, to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But he would retain the right to build three office towers on the most valuable parcels there.  

Developer Takes a Financial Deal for Ground Zero

Jane Jacobs, the writer and thinker who brought penetrating eyes and ingenious insight to the sidewalk ballet of her own Greenwich Village street and came up with a book that challenged and changed the way people view cities, died yesterday in Toronto, where she moved in 1968. She was 89.      She died at a Toronto hospital, said a distant cousin, Lucia Jacobs, who gave no specific cause of death.  

New York City Mayor Michael R Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M Menino meet in New York with mayors of 13 other cities to put pressure on federal government to combat illegal firearms; mayors pledge to take steps to intensify fight against illegal firearms in absence of federal effort (M)

Seeking a National Voice, 15 Mayors Meet on Gun Violence

A promising new contender has arrived in a crowded pharmaceutical field. Joining the ranks of Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata and other prescription lullaby drugs is ''Lestat,'' the musical sleeping pill that opened last night at the Palace Theater.      Adapted from Anne Rice's cult novels ''The Vampire Chronicles,'' and featuring songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, this portrait of blood suckers in existential crisis gives resounding credence to the legend that vampires are masters of hypnosis. Dare to look upon ''Lestat'' and keep your eyelids from growing heavier and heavier and heavier.  

Anne Rice's Vampires, With Elton John's Music, Take to the Stage

Even as Amazon, the online retailer, reported another jump in its quarterly revenue, analysts continued to express concern yesterday about the company's ability to get its high costs under control.     The 20 percent increase in first-quarter revenue and a 35 percent decline in earnings -- attributed largely to a change in the reporting of employee stock options -- mostly conformed to expectations.  

Revenue Up at Amazon; Costs, Too

Caryn James Critic's Notebook on films American Dreamz and Thank You for Smoking; holds that pop culture satires are working in current films while political satires are not (M)

April 26, 2006

Headlines from April 26, 2006

Qaeda Video Vows Iraq Defeat for 'Crusader' U.S.

Abuse Charge Set for a U.S. Colonel

The Oyster Is His World

Student's Prize Is a Trip Into Immigration Limbo

Jane Jacobs, Social Critic Who Redefined and Championed Cities, Is Dead at 89

Billboard 200

Me And My Gang

White Trash With Money

NOW 21

High School Musical

King

Historical Context for April 26, 2006