By the start of the 2007-8 National Hockey League season, the New Jersey Devils will be working their shifts at the most expensive patch of thin ice on the planet.

Where the Devils Won't Get Their Due

The nuclear dispute between the U.S. and Iran resembles cold war brinkmanship, but with some new twists.

Iran Strategy: Cold War Echo

Schools have tried everything to curtail theft, but belongings still go missing.

What Gives When Stuff Is Taken

As he neared his 78th birthday, an award-winning playwright marked the occasion with a trip to the remote outpost of Easter Island, a journey nearly 50 years in the making.

Easter Island: The Dream at the End of the World

Mothers in Nepal are foot soldiers in the global fight to slash the number of children who die from complications of measles.

Mothers of Nepal Vanquish a Killer of Children

New Jersey's population of Mexican immigrants, legal and illegal, is surging.

Way North of the Border

Dieu Donné Montoucet makes virtually indestructible triangles, the instrument that paces Cajun music.

A Cajun Craftsman Preserves the Hallowed Ping of History

Mr. Galbraith, an iconoclastic economist, teacher and diplomat, was one of the most widely read authors in the history of economics.

John Kenneth Galbraith, 97, Dies; Economist Held a Mirror to Society

The release of suspects from Guantánamo Bay has been stymied by concerns that prisoners may not be treated humanely by their own governments.

U.S. Says It Fears Detainee Abuse in Repatriation

Article on storied history of music in Morrisania neighborhood of Bronx, NY, from jazz age of 1940's through hip-hop of 1980's; Prof Mark Naison, Fordam University historian, is unearthing history through conversations with current and former residents who are telling their stories as part of Bronx African-American History Project, which he leads; photos (L)

Morrisania Melody

Article discusses legacy of Metropolitan Opera general manager Joseph Volpe,who is retiring this season; describes how he turned Metropolitan Opera Guild Gala into event honoring him instead of Mozart; his accomplishments, abrasive personality and relationship to successor Peter Gelb discussed; photos (L)

Joseph Volpe Bids the Met a Most Operatic Adieu

Article describes intricate insider-trading deal involving former Goldman Sachs trader David Pajcin, friend Eugene Plotkin and Merrill Lynch analyst Stanislav Shpigelman that garnered Pajcin, his friends and family members millions of dollars from stock trades before being caught; photos (L)

An Insider-Trading Case With a B-Movie Plot

Striking number of young women are defying audience stereotypes and flocking to bloody new wave of horror films, surprisingHollywood executives; several fans explain; photos (M)

Up to Her Eyes in Gore, and Loving It

Gretchen Morgenson column on outcome of Pfizer Inc's shareholders meeting in which more than 20 percent of shares cast opposed Dana Mead and George Lorch, two members of company's compensation committee, compared with 3 percent opposition last year; says shareholders are upset by $65 million that board has paid chief executive Hank McKinnell since 2001, during which time Pfizer's stock cratered; photo (M)

Can't Take It Anymore?

Dexter Filkins article holds that question hanging over Iraq's parliamentary election is whether new leaders, most of them barricaded inside protected Green Zone, can do anything to stop slide toward anarchy and civil war; photo (M)

Votes Counted. Deals Made. Chaos Wins.

Bob Dylan has new XM Satellite Radio show, Theme Time Radio Hour, that features Dylan introducing his favorite records; show is organized around a different theme each week; excerpts from script of upcoming show devoted to Mother's Day; photos (M)

It's All Right, Ma: Bob Dylan Turns D.J.

Article, adapted from soon-to-be-published book, Desperate Networks by New York Times reporter Bill Carter, on how American Idol struggled to become hit television series; photos (L)

How a Hit Almost Failed Its Own Audition

Uncertainty and brinksmanship in standoff over Iranian nuclear program are reminiscent of Cold War; both sides are using every tool available from threats by Iran to cut off oil to US threats of sanctions; Chinese, Russians and some Europeans worry about Bush administration's insistence on citing Iran under United Nations rules, which authorize use of penalties and even military force; US, British, French and German officials say Iran has voided its rights by deceiving International Atomic Energy Agency about its activities (L)

It is hard to watch the numbers flutter ever upward on the gas pump these days. Who hasn't heard laments over a $50 fill-up for a 15-gallon tank?     As they have soared toward $3 a gallon and beyond, the prices have frustrated college students hoping to drive home for the weekend and New York City cabdrivers trying to make a living.  

For Americans, More Angst At the Pump

National Center for Health Statistics reports that life-expectancy gap between men and women has shrunk to five years, narrowest since 1946, and if current trend continues, in 50 years men and women will live same length of time; photo (M)

The Bell Tolls for the Future Merry Widow

Virtually indestructible hand-forged musical triangles made by 80-year-old Cajun Dieu Donne Montoucet in Scott, La, are prized by musicians for way they ring; Montoucet has been making triangles for 40 years; he copied distinctive pattern of triangle and beater from set inherited from his grandfather; triangles are made from tines of old hayrakes; they are anything but standardized, and each has different note and different ring; photo (L)

Bush administration efforts to repatriate many of roughly 490 suspects now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been more difficult to broker than anticipated due to US insistence on humane treatment of prisoners in their native countries; military so far has sent home 267 detainees, but most of those who remain are considered more dangerous militants; Saudi Arabia's record on human rights has emerged as central obstacle; graph (L)

 Condo Conversions Leave Tenants in the Middle  The first big wave of condominium conversions in New York in 20 years is cutting into the supply of rental apartments, driving rents higher and ushering in a wrenching period of uncertainty for many tenants.   PAGE 33    Charities Find Giving Steady  A survey showed that three-quarters of charities raised at least as much in 2005 as they did in 2004, despite concern about ''donor fatigue'' after Hurricane Katrina.   PAGE 22    Japan Ages, Villages Vanish  In Japan, one of the world's fastest-aging societies, villages are being depopulated and their very existence imperiled. One hamlet has decided to vanish on its own.   PAGE 18    Jets Draft a Lineman  The Jets selected offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, left, in the N.F.L. draft. They bypassed Matt Leinart, the U.S.C. quarterback, after failing to get Reggie Bush, the U.S.C. running back.   SPORTSSUNDAY    A Hit Show's Weak Audition  ''American Idol,'' now a huge money-maker for Fox, was far from an obvious hit back in 2001. A version of it was popular in Britain, but its creators had trouble convincing American networks to take a serious look at it.   SUNDAY BUSINESS    Attention, Merry Widows  If old girls just want to have fun, they'd better have it now. Men are closing the longevity gap.   WEEK IN REVIEW    

INSIDE

Toyota's domination of hybrid vehicle sales is being challenged by German-American consortium of BMW, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors, which has worked quietly to develop distinctly different two-motor powertrain; newly-unveiled system will be available in wide range of cars, trucks and SUVs made by three companies, starting with 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe that GM says will achieve 25 percent better mileage in combined city-highway driving; photos; drawing (M)

Challenging Toyota's Hybrid Hegemony

AT first, when Jim Bozzi and Steve Albert were ready for a new house project, they were not thinking about a second home. They merely thought they would trade up from their three-bedroom colonial in New Haven, which they bought in 1998 for $154,000.      But they had fixed up their house until it was just how they wanted it. ''Why buy a bigger and more expensive house in New Haven?'' Mr. Albert said. ''We are two guys and a dog.''  

They Wanted to See the Water. Boy, Do They.

Jean-François Revel was a French philosopher, journalist, and author. A prominent public intellectual, Revel was a socialist in his youth but later became a prominent European proponent of classical liberalism and free market economics. He was a member of the Académie française after June 1998. He is best known for his book Without Marx or Jesus: The New American Revolution Has Begun, published in French in 1970.

Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (born 1924)

Jean-François_Revel

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, also nicknamed Pram, was an Indonesian novelist and writer. His works span the colonial period under Dutch rule, Indonesia's struggle for independence, its occupation by Japan during World War II, as well as the post-colonial authoritarian regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, and are infused with personal and national history.

April 30, 2006

Headlines from April 30, 2006

Where the Devils Won't Get Their Due

Iran Strategy: Cold War Echo

What Gives When Stuff Is Taken

Easter Island: The Dream at the End of the World

Mothers of Nepal Vanquish a Killer of Children

Billboard 200

Me And My Gang

White Trash With Money

NOW 21

High School Musical

King

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for April 30, 2006