Newly Combined CVS/Caremark Reports 1Q Profit Up 24 Percent. CVS/Caremark Corp. said Tuesday its earnings rose 24 percent on strong revenue growth in the first quarter as the huge drugstore chain operator absorbed the nation's second-largest pharmacy benefits manager.
Justice Department Says Prosecutor Mentioned in Washington Madam Case Has Been Dead for Years. A "career Justice Department prosecutor" identified in a news report as a client of alleged Washington madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey has been dead for nearly three years, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
A family-owned Greek pastry shop has honed in on the Morningside Heights turf of Chipolte and Pinkberry, laying claim to the considerable foot traffic of Columbia University. On April 29, Queens-based Artopolis opened at 1090 Amsterdam Avenue between 114th and 115th streets. This is the first Manhattan outpost for Artopolis, which opened its only other store, in Astoria, in 2001. "We have Greek pastries, crepes and our gelato is Aromi, a brand imported from Italy," manager Neil Pandelatos proudly told The Observer. Mr. Pandelatos, whose father Nick is the owner, hopes to draw passersby in with the sweet smell of pastries and scenes from the PBS series Visions of Greece which has been on a continuous loop on the elevated TV since the shop opened. There may be just one problem with this scenario of perfection. "We close at 11 p.m.," an employee told The Observer. Every day?!?! "Yes, every day." That time frame will need to change, and quickly, if Artopolis wants to stay afloat in the lat
Israeli Premier, Foreign Minister Schedule Talks With Arab Leaders About Peace Plan. Efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking shift into higher gear in the coming week, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert traveling to Jordan and his foreign minister heading to Cairo to discuss a sweeping Arab peace proposal, an Israeli official said Tuesday.
Milestones in Struggle for Northern Ireland Power-Sharing Since Good Friday Peace Deal. Milestones in efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland:
Arctic Bearded Seal That Swam to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dies at SeaWorld. An Arctic seal found in a Fort Lauderdale canal _ far from its habitat near the North Pole _ died Tuesday, a day after it was captured.
VA Urged to Improve Testing, Compensation for Veterans With Stress Disorder. The surge in the number of veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder requires development of better tests to evaluate affected personnel and determine how best to compensate them, a panel of medical experts said Tuesday.
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Tony Blair is one of the most popular prime ministers of modern times. In Washington, that is.
Ben has some mail from Michelle Obama.
Red Cross Says More Than $15 Million Needed to Help Somalia Recover. The international Red Cross asked donors Tuesday to contribute more than $15 million for Somalia as the African nation tries to recover from the worst fighting in more than a decade and a devastating humanitarian crisis.
Brawl Breaks Out in Taiwan Legislature Over Electoral Reform Bill. Rival lawmakers exchanged punches, climbed on each other's shoulders and jostled violently for position around the speaker's dais Tuesday as Taiwan's Legislature dissolved into chaos over an electoral reform bill.
I'm up in Albany for the New York State Democratic Committee Spring Business Meeting at the Desmond Hotel, a few miles away from the capitol.
Homeless Man Survives Garbage Truck Crushing in West Palm Beach. A homeless man who had fallen asleep in a trash bin to escape the rain was dumped into a garbage truck and survived being crushed repeatedly before a worker saw him.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to rewrite, tighten and otherwise modernize the city?s maze-like web of building rules and regulations. It?s a good idea, and the City Council would be well advised to move quickly on a proposal that has been years in the making.
Poisoned pet-food ingredients are coming in from China. Are the Communists out to kill our pets, or is the mood in America beginning to shift?
Estonian Ministers Lay Flowers at Disputed Monument to Mark WWII Victory. Estonian government ministers laid flowers at a disputed Soviet statue on Tuesday, the first time the Baltic state has paid tribute to the Red Army while commemorating the Allied victory in World War II.
Sensing their own smallness, contemporary politicians often seek to puff themselves up by appealing to myth and legend. For Republicans, there is no mythology more appealing than that of Ronald Wilson Reagan, as the party?s Presidential candidates eagerly demonstrated during their debate on May 3 in the library that bears his name.
3 Ex-Waiters File $5 Million Federal Lawsuit Against Designer Restaurateur Michael Chow. Michael Chow, whose designer restaurants attract the celebrity set, used "degradation as a management technique" at his two Manhattan locations, according to a federal lawsuit.
General Motors Joins Others in Calling for Increased Limits on Greenhouse Gases. General Motors Corp., and nearly a dozen other major companies, have joined the growing number of businesses calling for limits on greenhouse gases to combat global warming.
Indian Lawmaker Convicted, Sentenced to Life in Prison for Kidnapping Political Rival. A popular Indian politician was convicted Tuesday and sentenced to life in prison on a charge of kidnapping with intent to kill a rival who disappeared eight years ago and has never been found.
Oz-Fest: We?re feeling a mixed bag of emotions as we head into tonight?s finale of America?s Next Top Model. What are we to do on Wednesday nights without you ladies? Our money, if anyone cares, is on either Russian mail-order bride/hooker Natasha or would-be drag queen Jaslene. Man, it?s going to be a looong summer. [America?s Next Top Model, 8 p.m., CW.]
The Museum of Modern Art (that?s MoMA to you, sucka!) honors Leon and Debra Black and (yea!) Martin Scorsese tonight at a Party in the Garden that benefits the?shocker?museum and the maintenance of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden (don?t shoot the pigeons, Mrs. Rockefeller!). Expect lots of squab-stuffed slickster fellas in black tie. Ask Marty what is up with him and Leo DiCaprio. More foliage at the Metropolitan Pavilion, where glossy House & Garden editor in chief Dominique Browning and publisher Joseph Lagani celebrate their June rising-stars issue with Condé Nast C.E.O. Chuck Townsend; Jay McInerney and his rich, pretty wife, Anne Hearst; saucy social stingray Nina Griscom; designer Peter Som; and, well, not you. And be glad!
Schwag hag alert! The TV upfronts kick off?you know, it?s when the networks try to reassure us that they really do want quality programming, right before they debut their new reality show, Slut Wars. But this is also the time of Lucky magazine?s ?Lucky Club,? which takes over on the ground floor of the Ritz-Carlton, and where celebrities get to hang out and pick up all the free junk they can possibly carry. Participating brands this year include True Religion Brand Jeans, Stuart Weitzman, L.A.M.B, and Keds (hot)?and today is NBC?s big day, so look for Tina Fey and members of The Office to scurry through. Next! The International Center of Photography has its annual shindig over at Pier 60. Due to attend is the lovely Julianne Moore, disappearing Karl Lagerfeld, big-boobed ex?Seinfeld gal (but don?t call her that!) Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss and Interview editor Ingrid Sischy. And finally, yukkin? it up over at Caroline?s on Broadway, comedians such as Joy Behar, Mario Cantone, Judy Gold a
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! If you?re not doing something with dear old Mom (which you really should, no matter what your therapist thinks she did to you), then you can at least enjoy the Museum of the Moving Image?s first-ever comprehensive Sam Fuller retrospective. Avoid the ache of a Sunday afternoon by escaping with 1949?s I Shot Jesse James or 1950?s The Baron of Arizona, a western starring Vincent Price that the late actor described as his favorite role.
WEE kitties not included! We?ve gotten the message loud and clear: Americans are fat (and thoughtless) little piggies. But did you know that our pets are, too? Apparently, there are 48 million overweight or obese cats and dogs. That puppy might look pretty cute all pudged up, but as we?ve learned, ?five extra pounds on a medium-size breed like a beagle is the equivalent of nearly 25 pounds on an average woman.? No thank you! Today, the Hill?s PetFit Mobile Tour will be stopping by our fair city to help local pet owners get their precious fatties thin. Isn?t life grand? Speaking of body-image disorder, the lasses at Self magazine will be hosting their annual workout in Central Park today. Thousands (!) are expected to experience ?the latest fitness trends? (Stripilates?). Watch out for ducks. Seriously.
SPREE-WELL: More feel-good High Line stuff tonight (anybody else wonder why there aren?t any parties at the actual High Line?). Hippie-ster favorite the Polyphonic Spree plays at Madison Square Garden?which is too bad, because if there were ever a maniac band to be seen out of doors, this is it. Meanwhile, Operation Smile, the nonprofit that performs life-altering facial surgery on children, celebrates its 25th anniversary at 7 World Trade (meep). That?s the good news. Smarm-er Billy Bush is hosting it, and Vanessa and Donald Trump Jr. serve as executive-committee chairs. Choose wisely.
ARE YOU GOING TO CHUCK SCARBOROUGH FAIR? Animal lovers?like frisky ladies? man Matt Lauer, schmatte heiress Dylan Lauren, architect Richard Meier and our local NBC favorite, Chuck Scarborough (in his ladies? sunglasses, we hope!)?are at the Mandarin Oriental hotel for the ASPCA?s Bergh Ball. Tonight?s theme is ?Tails of Time? (yea!). Isaac Mizrahi (remember him?) plays host, and after some cocktails (Cats-mopolitan, anyone?) and dinner, there will be an auction with artwork from David LaChapelle, Bruce Webber and Arthur Elgort. Much further south, Creative Time, the nonprofit that ?presents the most innovative art in the public realm? (if you say so!), celebrates its 33rd birthday with more arty-auction stuff at the Bowery Hotel. Hey, are we the only people that are seriously scared of the Bowery Hotel? Hel-lo, stab city. Regardless, guests scheduled to attend include Deborah Harry and David Byrne (who will host), hotelier André Balazs, really rich lady Beth Rudin DeWoody and artist Ci
THIS CITY IS BLOOMIN' ... Ha-choo! And as far as the eye can see, there are signs of spring fever: The nights get longer and the mole people crawl out of their apartments for al fresco dining?watch out for that mangy dog, he?s on the loose!?while the young men of Manhattan continue to dress like plumbers and their ladies dress like fancy hookers in espadrilles. It?s enough to make you wish with all your might for 10 days of rain ?. Tonight our favorite ex-President, Bill Clinton, stuffs himself into a tux for the 100th anniversary gala of the Japan Society at the Hilton New York, where he?ll chat up some dewy babes for later, give the keynote address in front of fellow luminaries like David Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller IV (that?s four?count ?em, four!), and crack a few jokes about his fierce wife being President ?. Moving on, just when we washed our hands of that Tribeca Film Festival sticky glitz, here comes another?the first-ever H&M-sponsored High Line Festival, curated by Mr
39 Killed in Lesotho in Accident Involving Truck, Bus Carrying Workers From a Textile Factory. A speeding bus carrying dozens of workers from a textile factory collided with a truck, killing at least 39 people in a remote region of this tiny mountain kingdom, police said Tuesday.
Tyco International 2Q Profit Drops 7 Percent on Higher Costs. Industrial manufacturing conglomerate Tyco International Ltd., which is planning on splitting into three separate companies, said Tuesday its second-quarter profit slipped 7 percent as higher overhead and separation costs offset revenue growth.
Democratic Councilman Joe Addabbo is having a fund-raiser on May 24th for his not-yet-announced race for state Senate against Republican Serph Maltese.
Farmworkers abandoned a poultry farm in eastern India after thousands of chickens there died, and a federal laboratory will test whether the poultry were infected with bird flu, an official and a news report said Tuesday.
Russian Photojournalist Dmitry Chebotayev Spent Last Hours Doing What He Loved. In the last hours of his life, Russian photojournalist Dmitry Chebotayev was doing what he lived for: taking pictures. And laughing.
China Criticizes U.S. Report Detailing Abuses Against Religious Freedom. Beijing accused a U.S. advisory panel on Tuesday of taking "potshots" at China in a report that accuses the government of imprisoning and torturing people for practicing their religion.
Ah, pork. The other white meat. Chops are lean, healthy and flavorful; the sight of slab bacon can make a person salivate. But nothing is so enticing as a big rack of ribs?all those bones lined up so neat, drenched in sauce and thrown over a smoke pit.
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Fashion Stylist and Icon Isabella Blow, Credited With Discovering Philip Treacey, Dies at 48. Stylist and fashion guru Isabella Blow, a vibrant and often outrageous presence on the British fashion scene, has died, her husband said. She was 48.
The decorative rose that was Belle Epoque designer Paul Poiret?s hallmark is currently featured in the halls of the Metropolitan Museum to mark the occasion of the annual Costume Institute Gala. Perhaps in keeping with its tradition of extravagance, the gala chose to highlight the work of the self-described king of fashion: An exhibition of Poiret?s enswathing and intricately detailed couture will run at the Met from May 9 to Aug. 5.
Brownback Disputes Claim That Tornado Exposed Guard Shortages. Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback disputed claims by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that a deadly Kansas tornado exposed holes in National Guard readiness caused by the Iraq war.
If Holden Caulfield were a 33-year-old singer/songwriter, he might record an album something like Release the Stars?Rufus Wainwright?s forthcoming fifth studio release. Mr. Wainwright, after all, has never been one to conform, and Release the Stars, on sale May 15, is no exception to his rule. On all 12 tracks, Mr. Wainwright, the son of folk musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, manages to marry his honest, biting lyrics with fabulously camp crescendos, Main Street harmonies and rhythmic lullabies that dwell somewhere between here and fast asleep. The result: an operatic, gather-ye-rosebuds package that is unapologetically human and, yes, often way over the top?perhaps a bit like Mr. Wainwright himself.
Big Bidders Expected to Boost Prices of Grateful Dead Memorabilia at Auction in San Francisco. During their heyday, the Grateful Dead promised in their folksy lyrics to "steal your face right off your head."
