Many home sellers are offering thousands of dollars in incentives so they do not have to slice deeply into asking prices.

Home for Sale, by Anxious Owner

An assault on prominent lawyer Albert Ho threatens to damage Hong Kong’s reputation for the fair settlement of disputes in court.

Beating of Lawyer Threatens Hong Kong’s Allure

A trip over the rural roads of southwestern Pennsylvania leads through a layered landscape of city and town, swimming holes and memorials, shaded by the shiny leaves of the mountain laurel.

Pennsylvania, the Land of Fallingwater and Flight 93

A crew in hazard suits navigated a sealed bubble for an exhibit that recreates an eerie time capsule.

9/11 Shrine, With the Tragic, Toxic Dust

The revival of New Orleans’s little restaurants and independent stores remains uncertain.

New Orleans Shops Struggle to Survive

Apple Computer said it was recalling 1.8 million laptop batteries because they could overheat and catch fire.

Apple Joins in a Recall of Batteries

Give Mariah Carey a chance for a concert that should be a victory lap, she’ll make it feel more like a roller coaster.

The Missing Pastor, and Other Onstage Ordeals

The agency’s decision did little to dampen what became a central part of the nation’s debate on abortion. 

F.D.A. Approves Broader Access to Next-Day Pill

A budding entrepreneur was charged with providing customers services that included satellite broadcasts of a television station controlled by Hezbollah — a violation of federal law.

New York Man Charged With Enabling Hezbollah Television Broadcasts

As a jockey's agent, Ron Anderson must be a sharp handicapper, a methodical thinker, a full-time travel agent, a part-time shrink and a sometime whipping boy.

The Work of a Jockey’s Agent Goes Beyond Big-Money Deals

The political debate over Plan B may have helped raise the profile of its maker, Barr Pharmaceuticals, but over-the-counter sales will barely register on its balance sheet.

Next-Day Pill No Pot of Gold for Its Maker

Acted with absorbing restraint and immediacy, this is a truly life-sized production, which means it is big indeed.

Weaving Blues of Trying Times and Lost Dreams

An examination of the case file shows that there is a body of evidence to support the prosecutor’s decision to take the matter to a jury.

Files From Duke Rape Case Give Details but No Answers

Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey named as his next attorney general Stuart J. Rabner, his chief counsel and a former federal prosecutor known for his vigor with public corruption cases.

Corzine Chooses His Chief Counsel as Next Attorney General

The State Department is investigating whether Israel’s use of cluster bombs in Lebanon violated agreements with the U.S., officials said.

Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs

Potential presidential contenders are starting amazingly early, well before midterm elections.

It’s Never Too Early to Gear Up for ’08 Race

The film version of Thomas Rockwell's 1973 book proves refreshingly free of the customary blights that affect most modern children’s movies, notably adult condescension.

The Organic Snack That Builds Character

The astronomers' redefinition that demoted Pluto pretty much alters nothing, just as government officials often come up with redefinitions to try to make tough situations go away.

When the Skies Lose a Planet, a City Shrugs

After losing key players to trades and injuries, the Phillies have parlayed three and a half solid weeks into making themselves legitimate contenders for a wild card berth. 

Wait Till Next Year? Phillies Play for Playoffs

China dismissed a state-secrets charge against Zhao Yan, but sentenced him on a lesser charge.

China Gives Times Researcher 3 Years

Overstock.com chief executive Patrick M. Byrne’s latest legal theory would allow those who bought the company’s stock before it plunged to get their money back from their brokers.  

If Your Stocks Fall, Demand a Refund

In an industry in which star athletes encourage children to buy shoes for up to $200, Stephon Marbury is endorsing
a pair that costs $15.

A Kick for Marbury: Hot Shoes, Cool Price

Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado have been close friends since their days in the minors, and they shared another fond moment by helping the Mets sweep the St. Louis Cardinals.

Green and Delgado Dance to the Same Music

This Mexican border town - best known for margarita bars, cheap pharmacies and junk taxis - is beginning to assert its unlikely hipster side.

It’s Hot. It’s Hip. It’s Tijuana?

 In the New Solar System, Pluto Is a 'Dwarf Planet'  In what many scientists described as a triumph of science over sentiment, Pluto has been demoted to the status of a ''dwarf planet.''     Astronomers, after years of wrangling, voted on a reclassification of the solar system. In the new system there are eight planets, at least three dwarf planets, and tens of thousands of so-called smaller solar system bodies, like comets and asteroids.      The outcome completed a stunning turnaround from a week ago, when the assembled astronomers were presented a proposal that would have increased the number of planets in the solar system to 12, including Pluto.   PAGE A13    Anti-Jewish Art in Tehran  Anti-Jewish cartoons are on display in Tehran, a response to cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad that first appeared in a Danish newspaper.   PAGE A8    Maynard Ferguson Dies  A hard-working jazz bandleader and a trumpeter who made his name by hitting the highest of high notes, he was 78.   PAGE C10    Apple Recalls Batteries  Apple Computer said it was recalling 1.8 million battery packs from some models of its laptop computers because of a risk that they could overheat and catch fire.   BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1    Let Us Now Enlarge Famous Images  Digitally produced prints of classic photographs by Walker Evans, among them ''Roadside Stand Near Birmingham'' (1936), are now on display at the UBS Art Gallery in New York, raising some basic issues about the nature of photography. A review by Michael Kimmelman.   WEEKEND, PAGE E27    New Lures for Home Sales  Home sales are falling and inventory is building, but prices are rising as sellers come up with new sales incentives.   BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1    August Wilson Onstage  A new production of August Wilson's ''Seven Guitars'' inaugurates the Signature Theater's season of Wilson plays, almost a year after his death. A review by Ben Brantley.   WEEKEND, PAGE E1

INSIDE

Noor Mohamed Hassanali TC was a Trinidadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second president of Trinidad and Tobago from 1987 to 1997. A retired high-court judge, he was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Muslim to hold the office of President of Trinidad and Tobago, and he was the first Muslim head of state in the Americas.

Noor Hassanali, Trinidadian-Tobagonian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Trinidad and Tobago (born 1918)

Noor_Hassanali

Pavlo Ivanovych Lazarenko is a Ukrainian convicted criminal, international fugitive, and a former politician who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine from 1996 to 1997.

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Lazarenko is sentenced to nine years imprisonment for money laundering, wire fraud, and extortion.

August 25, 2006

Headlines from August 25, 2006

Home for Sale, by Anxious Owner

Beating of Lawyer Threatens Hong Kong’s Allure

Pennsylvania, the Land of Fallingwater and Flight 93

9/11 Shrine, With the Tragic, Toxic Dust

New Orleans Shops Struggle to Survive

Billboard 200

Port Of Miami

Phobia

NOW 22

Cassie

Christ Illusion

Notable Deaths

Historical Events

Historical Context for August 25, 2006