The colossus Wal-Mart, through its Sam's Club division, can be a most unlikely ally of the mom-and-pop store.

Guess Who's Got His Back?

Questions of truth, verisimilitude and reality are a substantial part of this year's Tribeca Film Festival, most notably in "American Cannibal: The Road to Reality."

Reality and Fantasy, Indivisible

Revolution Studios, run by Joe Roth, will close in October 2007, despite predictions that it would soon become profitable.

The Rise and Fall of Revolution

Google says Microsoft is unfairly grabbing Web traffic by making its MSN search engine the default in its browser.

New Microsoft Browser Raises Google's Hackles

There is confusion and anger among the Garifuna people after a woman who claimed to be their advocate was arrested and accused of defrauding the immigrants.

Benefactor of Group of Caribbean Immigrants Is Accused of Defrauding Them 

While Asians have transformed many New Jersey communities, few have joined the ranks of police departments.

Influx of Asians in New Jersey Is Not Reflected in Police Ranks

Within hours of its release, the Spanish-language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" had done what protest songs aim to do: it had annoyed people.

A Protest Song of Sorts, to a Very Familiar Tune

Zhou Tiehai, a Chinese painter who delegates his work to hirelings, has risen from marginalized rebel to mainstream superstar by mocking the art scene.

Chinese Artist Zhou Tiehai Proves the Emperor Is Naked

The talks were extended 48 hours after Sudan's government accepted a peace agreement, but two of Darfur's three main rebel groups raised last-minute objections.

Deadline Passes Without Darfur Accord

The Giants may have conducted the least-talked-about draft among the N.F.L.'s 32 teams, low on sex appeal and name recognition.

Giants Quietly Address Needs by Adding Depth

A rape case has uncomfortably linked Duke  and its struggling neighbor, North Carolina Central University.

Duke's Struggling Cousin Rises From Its Shadow

Starbucks is seeking movies and books to promote in the hope of duplicating the success it has had selling and promoting music.

A Small Step at Starbucks From Mocha to Movies

Mathematicians have been taking an interest in sudoku — not necessarily in solving the puzzles, but in understanding more about their character. 

In Sudoku, Nine Little Numbers Add up to a Big Challenge

Barbara Walters said that in winning a slot on "The View," Ms. O'Donnell beat out many other suitors.

A Deal Among Friends Brought Rosie O'Donnell to 'The View'

Counterfeiters in China set up a parallel NEC that developed its own products and had links to a network of factories in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Next Step for Counterfeiters: Faking the Whole Company

The broadcasts last week by three terrorist leaders show the differing motives of Al Qaeda's leadership.

Some See Hints of Disharmony in Qaeda Tapes

The training villages are at the heart of a vast shift in U.S. strategy, from an emphasis on army-to-army battles to preparing for guerrilla insurgencies.

Mock Iraqi Villages in Mojave Prepare Troops for Battle

Johnny Damon wasn't just hired to give the Yankees  pop from the leadoff position, but to stir life into what has been a moribund clubhouse since 2001.

Damon Proving That Pinstripes and Short Hair Can Be Fun, Too

A plan to send $100 checks to voters is eliciting more scorn than gratitude.

Sharp Reaction to G.O.P. Plan on Gas Rebate

This dancing encyclopedia of clichés is about as gripping as a two-and-a-half-hour episode of "Soul Train."

'Hot Feet': A Fractured Fairy Tale Set in Boogie Wonderland

 The post-dynasty Lakers, young and largely untested, now have three chances to eliminate the Phoenix Suns.

It Feels Like Old Times in Los Angeles

As two luxury towers rise, the Upper West Side is hurrying to rezone before developers begin tearing down other structures and replacing them with tall apartment buildings.

Fighting New Heights on the Upper West Side

Three years into the conflict in Iraq, the front line in the American drive to prepare troops for insurgent warfare runs through a cluster of mock Iraqi villages deep in the Mojave Desert, nearly 10,000 miles from the realities awaiting the soldiers outside Baghdad and Mosul and Falluja.     Out here, 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles, units of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y., are among the latest war-bound troops who have gone through three weeks of training that introduce them to the harsh episodes that characterize the American experience in Iraq.  

Deep in a U.S. Desert, Practicing to Face the Iraq Insurgency

Huge influx of Koreans and other Asians in Palisades Park, NJ, is not reflected in ranks of police; only 3 of town's 42 police and traffic officers are Korean; other New Jersey communities that have had robust influxes of Asians, like Fort Lee, Edison, Leonia, Closter and Ridgefield, also have tiny fractions of Asian officers, or none at all; Asian officers say few Asian children raised in US apply for police jobs; cite parental pressure on children to set higher career goals and perception in some Asian countries that police officers are corrupt, brutal or unlettered; Asian and non-Asian police officers agree that police forces work best when they mirror their communities; photo; table; map (M)

The Senate Republican plan to mail $100 checks to voters to ease the burden of high gasoline prices is eliciting more scorn than gratitude from the very people it was intended to help.      Aides for several Republican senators reported a surge of calls and e-mail messages from constituents ridiculing the rebate as a paltry and transparent effort to pander to voters before the midterm elections in November.  

May 1, 2006

Headlines from May 1, 2006

Guess Who's Got His Back?

Reality and Fantasy, Indivisible

The Rise and Fall of Revolution

New Microsoft Browser Raises Google's Hackles

Benefactor of Group of Caribbean Immigrants Is Accused of Defrauding Them

Billboard 200

Me And My Gang

White Trash With Money

NOW 21

High School Musical

King

Historical Context for May 1, 2006