Approval of more funding for the “cash for clunkers” program took a step forward as it won the support of two senators who had earlier criticized the plan.

Spurring Sales, Car Rebate Plan Is Left Up in Air

Known for reliability, Toyota has a lineup of mundane-looking vehicles that have failed to generate excitement among buyers.

New Leader Tries to Get Toyota Back on the Road

With insurgents active in half the country, many Afghans remain doubtful that the election will take place.

Fears of Fraud Cast Pall Over Afghan Election

New York City cabbies have been banned from using cellphones for a decade, but the rules remain almost entirely unenforced.

Cabbies Stay on Their Phones Despite Ban

As a backyard poultry trend sweeps the country, hatcheries that supply baby chicks say they can barely keep up with demand.

Keeping Their Eggs in Their Backyard Nests

The American International Group said it has appointed Robert H. Benmosche as its new chief executive, its second since receiving billions of dollars in federal aid.

A.I.G. Taps Former Chief of MetLife

Former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea to negotiate the release of two American television journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

Bill Clinton in North Korea to Seek Release of U.S. Reporters

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had proposed sending various people to lobby for the release of two journalists before Bill Clinton emerged as the preferred choice, people briefed on the talks said.

In Release of Journalists, Both Clintons Had Key Roles

An ancient tradition of roasting fish over an open fire is reasserting its place in the local cuisine and culture of Baghdad.

In Iraq, Reigniting a Flame for Roasting Carp

Neil Simon’s play comes across today as little more than a few episodes of a television sitcom stitched together. But the situation in this particular comedy has a real sting now.

Downsized Before There Was a Word for It

The series has boosted the fortunes of TLC, which, after several years of floundering, has started to revive itself as a cable channel about extraordinary versions of everyday life.

‘Jon & Kate’ Returns, Buttressing Other Shows

Media Cloud is a system that tracks hundreds of newspapers and thousands of Web sites and blogs, and archives the information in a searchable form.

Hot Story to Has-Been: Tracking News via Cyberspace

Hollywood heads into what promises to be an unusually nervous month at the box office.

A New Test for Studios: The August Box Office

To meet growing demand, India will probably have to import 20 to 30 percent of the sugar it needs in the current fiscal year.

India Gets Caught Short as Sugar Prices Soar

A history of the clashes between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses during the 1950s and ’60s over three of the huge public works projects Moses tried to force on Manhattan.

When David Fought Goliath in Washington Square Park

When cooking in a vacation rental, the author has been known to travel with supplies, but this June she had a revelation: one needs only a cast-iron skillet to survive.

Note to Myself: Take the Kitchen

Its earnings are bolstering the British bank’s shares, and it recently sold a part of its leveraged loan portfolio at par.

Barclays Discount Could Be Golden

An article on Sunday about the rising toll of suicides in the Army since the Iraq war began misidentified the rank of one of four soldiers in the North Carolina National Guard’s 1451st Transportation Company who committed suicide after returning home. The soldier, Roger Parker, was a first sergeant, not a sergeant.

Corrections

A report in the Breakingviews.com column on Monday about the disparity in bonuses between employees at Merrill Lynch and at its parent, Bank of America, misstated the number of Merrill employees who received bonuses of $1 million or more for 2008. It was 696, not 796. And because of an editing error, the column referred incorrectly to the current status of those employees. Many of them — but not all — continue to work at the brokerage firm.

The Advertising column on Friday, about the popularity of Pepsi in Quebec, misspelled the name of the snowman mascot of Quebec City’s winter carnival in some copies. It is Bonhomme, not Bonne Homme.

A news analysis article on Friday about the growing problem of evaluating past World Series championship teams that have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs misstated the relationship between one such team, the Boston Red Sox, and George J. Mitchell, who issued a report in 2007 about doping in baseball. He is a paid adviser to the team’s ownership group, not a minority owner.

An article on Saturday about Robin Harris, the new executive director of the Ivy League, described the league’s policy on scholarships incorrectly. Although Ivy League institutions grant need-based financial aid packages, they do not also award scholarships based on merit.

The Books of The Times review on Wednesday about a book by Zev Chafets on the National Baseball Hall of Fame misidentified the rule for election that excludes Pete Rose from being considered for admission, and a correction in this space on Monday gave only the book’s subtitle. In his book “Cooperstown Confidential,” Mr. Chafets notes that Rose is excluded from consideration under part of Rule 3 that bars players on baseball’s ineligible list — those banned from any role in Major League Baseball — not under Rule 5, which says a player’s integrity and character are among the factors on which voting should be based. (As the correction noted, the subtitle of “Cooperstown Confidential” is “Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame.”).

The 36 Hours column on July 26, about Martha’s Vineyard, misspelled the name of a village on Cape Cod where visitors can pick up a ferry for the Vineyard and misstated the town on the Vineyard where State Road restaurant is located. The village is Woods Hole, not Wood’s Hole, and the restaurant is in West Tisbury; there is no North Tisbury. The column also gave incomplete directions for getting to Squibnocket Beach from Quitsa Pond by kayak and on foot. You would launch at Quitsa Pond and paddle to Menemsha Pond, but then would have to paddle to Nashaquitsa Pond and Stonewall Pond before ditching the kayak and walking to Squibnocket Beach. You cannot paddle from Quitsa Pond to Menemsha Pond and walk to the beach from there.

Correction: 36 Hours on Martha’s Vineyard

Blake Snyder was an American screenwriter, consultant, author and educator based in Los Angeles. His screenplays include the comedies Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) and Blank Check (1994).

August 4, 2009

Headlines from August 4, 2009

Spurring Sales, Car Rebate Plan Is Left Up in Air

New Leader Tries to Get Toyota Back on the Road

Fears of Fraud Cast Pall Over Afghan Election

Cabbies Stay on Their Phones Despite Ban

Keeping Their Eggs in Their Backyard Nests

Billboard 200

Leave This Town

BLACKsummers'night

Hannah Montana 3

NOW 31

The E.N.D.

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for August 4, 2009