June 28, 2005

CHINA OIL BID IN BROUHAHA

Pressure continues to build on Capitol Hill to mount an investigation of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation's bid to buy Unocal. U.S. politicians are increasingly concerned that the deal...

UGLY COMBINATION - FED, WEAK ECONOMY THREATEN MARTS

THE fact that stock prices fell so sharply last week should be frightening enough. But what should really scare investors is that Wall Street was desperate to keep the market...

COPY-WRONGED - HIGH COURT RULING IS KEY WIN FOR MEDIA BIGS

Technology companies that allow users to download music and movies over the Internet can be sued by the entertainment industry for allowing the illegal swapping of copyrighted material, the Supreme...

ASTON SELLS FOR RECORD $195M; ASTON SETS MARK

THE Aston, the sleek luxury rental apartment tower at 800 Sixth Ave. at 27th Street, is in contract to be sold for $195 million - believed to be the most...

TIVO TAPS MR. ROGERS AS NEW CHIEF EXEC

T-Ro is going to TiVo. Former Primedia boss Tom Rogers was named president and chief executive officer of TiVo yesterday, and will spearhead the company's move toward becoming a wide-ranging...

GOOGLE'S SHARES CLOSE OVER $300

Wall Street is still ga-ga over its Internet darling Google. After just 10 months as a publicly traded company, Google closed above $300 a share for the first time. Just...

CUTTING BOARD - MACK THE KNIFE WOULD SLICE & DICE DIRECTORS

Morgan Stanley's CEO heir apparent John Mack wants to shake up the board of directors at the embattled Wall Street powerhouse, according to individuals involved in the negotiations. In discussions...

BURLINGTON COAT PUT ON THE M&A SALE RACK

The Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. said yesterday that it had hired an investment bank to explore "strategic alternatives," the latest sign of a retailer seeking to take advantage of...

WEATHER-BEATEN PLANT

GIVEN the legacy of Led Zeppelin - one of the greatest rock bands of all time - you couldn't help but be disappointed by ex-Zep singer Robert Plant's performance at...

ROME IMPROVEMENT - CAESAR SERIES MORE THAN A SALAD, LESS THAN SUNDAY SUPPER

IF you like your Julius Caesar epics without too much of the messy reality associated with the great, sweeping drama that was real-life ancient Rome, "Empire" is the six-hour summer...

'MAMBO' A NO-GO

THEY won't be doing the mambo this summer on Broadway after all. Producers of "The Mambo Kings," a $12 million musical based on Oscar Hijuelos' Pulitzer Prize book, pulled the...

DOCS: SHUT UP, TOM

TOM Cruise should stick to acting and leave the medical stuff to the doctors. That was the message to the alien-loving actor from a pair of top-shelf shrinks on yesterday's...

OPRAH'S OTHER PARIS TRIP

OPRAH will always have Paris - sort of. In the wake of her now-famous snub at an Hermes store in Paris, today's "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is called - are...

ARUBA BOOSTS GRETA

GRETA Van Susteren is the new queen of cable news. Van Susteren's dogged reporting from Aruba last week about the case of missing Alabama teen-ager Natalee Holloway was the most-watched...

MISS AMERICA GOING COUNTRY

HERE she is, Miss America - on Country Music Television. The fabled Miss America Pageant has finally found a TV home, on cable's CMT channel, a network better known for...

UP IN SMOKE - 'RESCUE ME' DELIVERS SECOND POWERFUL PUNCH

NOTHING symbolizes the bond between brothers like a good oldfashioned, knock-down, drag-out brawl. In last week's episode of "Rescue Me" on FX, brothers Tommy and Johnny Gavin faced off outside...

GUY STUFF - ENOUGH WITH THE GIRL GETAWAYS ALREADY - ALLEN SALKIN REPORTS THAT MEN WANT TO DO SOME BONDING OF THEIR OWN

LADIES, 'scuse us for a sec, please. This story isn't for you. Lads, on the other hand, listen up. For half a decade we've been enduring the cloying girl getaway...

EXPRESS CHECK-IN - GOSSIP, HOT TOPICS AND OTHER NEWS YOU'LL USE

FOLLOW THAT STAR THE music industry's most sensitive types were out recently at the Songwriters Hall of Fame party, held at the Marriott Marquis (ooh, sexy). Alicia Keys chatted with...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

An Ohio baseball team of 11- and 12-year-olds has been kicked out of its league - because it's too good. The Columbus Stars were given the boot after other teams...

ALI'S POIGNANT MESSAGE - BOOK TELLS OF ILLNESS

IMAGINE being one of the all-time super humans of a century and having to explain this to your grandchildren. "Even though I give them all the hugs and kisses they...

JACKO TO FANS: YOUR LOVE DRIED MY TEARS

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson broke his post-acquittal silence yesterday, thanking devoted fans who "dried my tears" and helped him overcome 4 �� months of courtroom hell. "Without God, my...

TICKET A KICK IN THE ASH - CINDER-FELLA A 'LITTERER'

Talk about a nicotine fit. A Staten Island man was apoplectic yesterday after a ticket-happy New Jersey state trooper slapped him with a $240 fine for flicking cigarette ash -...

SUPREMELY ABSURD - HIGH COURT GONE INCOHERENT

THOUGH it has always been the fantasy of Americans that their highest court was truly a Solomonic body, only the foolish and the sentimental hew to that romantic vision of...

B'KLYN DEAL BOOSTS WOMEN, MINORITIES

Mayor Bloomberg and developer Bruce Ratner signed a first-of-its-kind contract yesterday - guaranteeing that women and minorities will benefit from the redevelopment of Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards. The $3.5 billion project...

COPS 'RAISE' FUSS OVER GIVEBACKS

The city's police union is having a hard time swallowing givebacks in exchange for 10 percent raises over two years, sources said yesterday. Arbitrator Eric Schmertz is prepared to award...

SENATORS BACK MILLER FOR MAYOR

Branding Mayor Bloomberg AWOL in Albany, two state Democratic senators representing Manhattan threw their support behind City Council Speaker Gifford Miller's bid for mayor yesterday. Sens. Eric Schneiderman and Liz...

COPS AGREE ON 10% HIKE IN NEW PAY DEAL

The city's police union agreed to a new contract with the city last night - giving cops a 10 percent raise over two years, sources said. The agreement came as...

HORRIFIED MOM SEES TEEN SLAIN

A Long Island teen was fatally stabbed in the driveway of his leafy suburban home - as his frantic mom desperately tried to help him. Thomas Battaglia, 19, was stabbed...

BTK PSYCHO GIVES ALL THE GORY DETAILS - MURDER BY EVIL MURDER - SERIAL STRANGLER ADMITS KILLING 10 IN 70S HORROR SPREE

The coldblooded BTK killer, a one-time lay president of Wichita's Christ Lutheran Church council and former Boy Scout leader, copped to 10 horrific murders yesterday - then spent almost an...

2 COMMANDMENTS - SUPREMES NOT WHOLLY PRO-MOSES

The U.S. Supreme Court issued two contrasting rulings on the Ten Commandments yesterday - saying they can be displayed on some government property, but barred in courthouses. The dual signals...

NO TICKET QUOTAS: PARKING BOSS

City parking cops don't have ticket quotas - but they are evaluated on how many cars they book, the NYPD's top parking official said yesterday. John Valles also admitted during...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A man was fatally shot last night in a dispute in front of a Sheepshead Bay housing project. Police said the 22-year-old, who was not immediately identified, was...

PRANK DUO AT LIBERTY - CLEARED IN 'LADY' MUG

Liberty is sweet - he just can't take a joke. That's the lesson learned by a couple of Brooklyn kids who were acquitted yesterday of the bizarre charge that they...

BUSH WILL AIR HIS VICTORY VOW

WASHINGTON - President Bush will tonight reassure America that there is "a clear path to victory" in Iraq - buttressed by a new vow from Iraq's leader that his country...

MOM'S COURTROOM CRIES - WAILS AS STAB SON IS JAILED

The mother of a Queens man who knifed his wife's ex-beau collapsed and stumbled out of the courthouse supported by friends and family after a judge sent her son to...

MUTINY BY ISRAEL 'GI'

A New Jersey-born Israeli soldier - who refused to help close down a Gaza Strip outpost - today becomes the first to face military justice over the controversial withdrawal of...

TENANTS TOSS FRUIT AT MIKE'S MARKET PLAN

Bronx Democratic leaders yesterday strongly defended the Bloomberg administration's sweeping plan to turn the dilapidated Bronx terminal market into a modern retail and recreational complex - despite complaints from the...

TERRIFYING 'JAWS 2' - TEEN SAVAGED IN SECOND FLA. SHARK ATTACK

A teenage boy's leg was amputated yesterday after he was attacked by a shark along the Florida Panhandle - just two days after a 14-year-old girl was killed by a...

TWO MUGGED IN CENTRAL PK.

A man mugged two people at knife-point in Central Park last night, fleeing with their cash and a video camera, police said. The man, in his 20s, approached the two...

ZOMBIE DOGS - DOCS DRAIN PUPS' BLOOD, THEN BRING 'EM BACK TO LIFE

It's the "Night of the Living Dogs." In a series of nightmarish experiments straight out of a horror flick, scientists at a leading university have killed dozens of dogs -...

BRIT ENVOY CLEARED OF ASSAULTING WIFE

A British diplomat was cleared yesterday of charges he shoved and manhandled his wife in their Upper East Side apartment. Assault and harassment charges were dropped against Stephen Thompson, 42,...

NEW SLAP RAP FOR KISS-&-TELL IDOL

Corey Clark - the kiss-and-tell "American Idol" contestant who boasted of steamy sex romps with Paula Abdul - has been busted for allegedly roughing up a female record company exec...

PANEL PROBING BOTCHED SEARCH OF 3 DEAD N.J. BOYS

A Camden County panel is investigating how cops could have failed to find three little boys as they suffocated in the trunk of a car parked right under their noses...

TRAGIC MOM'S VICTORY - 'GOLD STAR' SHIFT

A national organization of women who have lost children in wars changed its policy yesterday and will now allow noncitizens to join - a victory for a Filipino-born Yonkers mom...

TABLET RECALL WON'T AFFECT N.Y.

Displays of the Ten Commandments at two New York courthouses are unlikely to be affected by a pair of U.S. Supreme Court rulings on religious exhibits, legal analysts said yesterday....

BAIL-OUT FOR MOB 'DELIVERY' GUY

The Bronx lawyer accused of passing coded messages between jailed Bonanno godfather Joseph Massino and the acting boss was granted bail yesterday - at a very steep price. Tommy Lee...

BERGY CLEANS MAID'S CLOCK

Actress Candice Bergen breezed into the Manhattan District Attorney's Office yesterday to testify to grand jurors about the alleged "Housekeeper from Hell," a Polish domestic also accused of ripping off...

ROOT, ROOT, ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM - CITY'S OLYMPIC REPS IN FINAL PUSH

New York's Olympic dream heads into its final lap today as the city's bid boosters pack their bags and head off to Singapore after a City Hall rally that will...

SCARRED BEAUTY - TEEN SLASHED IN JEALOUS RAGE

A stunning aspiring model is happy to be alive after being slashed in the face and head by the jealous ex-girlfriend of her new boyfriend, cops said yesterday. "I was...

FURIOUS SEPT. 11 KIN HEAD TO D.C.

Families of 9/11 victims are taking their concerns about the Ground Zero memorial to the nation's capital. They will be in Washington, D.C., tomorrow in an effort to call national...

GRIDDER SLAIN TO BOOST GANG'S REP: DA

Connecticut football player Mark Fisher wasn't killed just for $20 - he was murdered to bolster the street credibility of a fledgling gang, prosecutors said yesterday. Two weeks before a...

HOOPS STAR'S LAST ASSIST

A former Queens high-school hoops star got to do in death what he'd longed to do in life - give his college scholarship to a deserving friend. The coach of...

BTK PSYCHO GIVES ALL THE GORY DETAILS - MURDER BY EVIL MURDER - SERIAL STRANGLER ADMITS KILLING 10 IN '70S HORROR SPREE

Dennis Rader, who led a double life as a churchgoing pillar of his Kansas community and the coldblooded BTK serial killer, spoke for an hour yesterday, confessing to 10 grisly...

$2 MIL BAILOUT FOR MAFIA'S 'DELIVERY' MAN

The Bronx lawyer accused of passing coded messages between jailed Bonanno godfather Joseph Massino and the acting boss was granted bail yesterday - at a very steep price. Tommy Lee...

CAMDEN KIDS' FRANTIC ESCAPE BID

The three little Camden boys who suffocated inside the trunk of a car parked right under the noses of the cops hunting for them had repeatedly banged their legs in...

COPS 'RAISE' RUCKUS OVER GIVEBACKS

The city's police union is having a hard time swallowing givebacks in exchange for 10 percent raises over two years, sources said yesterday. Arbitrator Eric Schmertz is prepared to award...

JAIL WAIL FROM MOM - WEEPS AT 'TRIANGLE' SENTENCE

The mother of a Queens man who knifed his wife's ex-beau collapsed and stumbled out of the courthouse supported by friends and family after a judge sent her son to...

PRANK PAIR AT 'LIBERTY'

Liberty is sweet - he just can't take a joke. That's the lesson learned by a couple of Brooklyn kids who were acquitted yesterday of the bizarre charge that they...

'DEAD' BOY REVIVED IN CREEK PLUNGE

A teenager was rescued - and brought back from "death" - by police divers yesterday after he slipped into a creek along the Brooklyn-Queens border while fishing with friends. Alberto...

CAMDEN KIDS' ESCAPE EFFORT

The three little boys who suffocated inside the trunk of a car parked right under the noses of the cops hunting for them in Camden, N.J., had repeatedly banged their...

WAL-MART HEIR DIES - BILLIONAIRE SON IN HOMEMADE-PLANE CRASH

Wal-Mart heir John Walton, whose net worth of $18.2 billion made him one of the richest men in the world, was killed in a plane crash yesterday in Wyoming. The...

'DEAD' BOY REVIVED AFTER CREEK SCARE

A teenager was rescued - and brought back from "death" - by police divers yesterday after he slipped into a creek along the Brooklyn-Queens border while fishing with friends. Alberto...

MISS AMERICA PAGEANT IS GOING COUNTRY

Here she is, Miss America - on Country Music Television. The fabled Miss America Pageant has finally found a TV home on cable's CMT channel, a network better known for...

SHEFF: NO BAN FOR UMP IRE

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - Gary Sheffield will be shocked if he draws more than a fine for throwing his helmet and the subsequent ejection he received Sunday night from C.B....

CROSS BOSS - SAYS YANKS MUST 'WANT TO WIN'

BALTIMORE - On the eve of a critical organizational meeting called by George Steinbrenner that could change the face of the Yankees, The Boss yesterday questioned how much his underachieving...

CAN'T BURY THEM YET

BALTIMORE - The Yankees cannot be written off, because no one has taken the time or the effort to write them off just yet. It may be to the rest...

NEW FILM OFFERS UNVARNISHED LOOK AT MICKEY MANTLE

TEN YEARS after his death, there will be cheers and tears again for Mickey Mantle. A one-hour HBO documentary - "MANTLE" - that will air July 13 (9 p.m.) will...

WRIGHT TURN? - NETS MAY GO WITH A&M GUARD

North Carolina forward Sean May heard he won't get past 13. Syracuse stud Hakim Warrick was told he'll go 6 to 15. UConn's Charlie Villanueva insists he doesn't want to...

VIJAY SAYS DISTANCE WILL BE KEY AT PGA - BALTUSROL 'IS GOING TO BE PRETTY LONG'

It was a good day for Vijay Singh at Baltusrol yesterday. He shot a tidy 1-under-par 69 and pocketed $60 from his playing partners. But in seven weeks when the...

FOR JETS, A LESSON IN LORE

WHEN NEWS surfaced yesterday of the Jets re-signing veteran linebackers Marvin Jones and Mo Lewis, enabling them to retire as Jets and be celebrated for their respective careers, it immediately...

BIRDIE'S OPEN VICTORY NOT THE NEWS THE LPGA NEEDED

CHERRY HILLS VIL LAGE, Colo. - Taking nothing whatsoever away from the final-round - and particularly final-hole - brilliance that made Birdie Kim one of the unlikeliest major championship winners...

ROCKER PUTS END TO RETURN

John Rocker came to Long Island two months ago, hoping it would be the beginning of his return to the big leagues. He headed home to Atlanta yesterday, unsure of...

CASHMAN COMPLAINS TO MLB

BALTIMORE - Prior to gathering his dysfunctional family in Tampa today, George Steinbrenner ordered GM Brian Cashman to trek to Major League Baseball's offices in Manhattan armed with videos of...

TAFT SURE DECISION WAS RIGHT

NBA NOTES Chris Taft wasn't among the chosen few to address the media yesterday at the Westin Hotel in midtown on the eve of the NBA Draft. To some, the...

DIVISION QUEST - METS FACE TOUGH STRETCH VS. EAST FOES

The last time the Mets played a game at home was June 12 against the Angels. Braden Looper picked up a ninth-inning loss that afternoon, while David Wright committed a...

SO ... LET THE NAMES BEGIN! - BUCKS ON CLOCK WITH NO. 1 PICK

A FRIEND recently said he was tired of reading countless stories about underclassmen leaving for the NBA because they wanted to get their mother out of the hood and buy...

NO CLEVELAND BROWN - CAVS' HIRE OF FERRY FOGS LARRY'S FUTURE

BEFORE somersaulting into some of the specifics and subtitles of tonight's draft, Isiah Thomas asked if I'd be so kind to accentuate the Detroit Shock's WNBA record comeback Sunday, reducing...

ANDERSON, WOODWARD: SUPER SUBS

MET NOTES Now that Doug Mientkiewicz has joined Kazuo Matsui and Miguel Cairo on the disabled list, the three Mets who have started the most games on the right side...

ALMONTE PLANS TO MAKE BRONX RETURN

Danny Almonte, who helped Monroe to the city championship little more than a year ago and then abruptly bolted to Florida with his father shortly before this baseball season, is...

PATIENCE 'SHORT' - BOSS: YANKEES 'HAVE TO WANT TO WIN'

BALTIMORE - On the eve of a critical organizational meeting called by George Steinbrenner that could change the face of the Yankees, The Boss yesterday questioned how much his underachieving...

FINE WITH SHEFF - GARY DOESN'T EXPECT SUSPENSION

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - Gary Sheffield will be shocked if he draws more than a fine for throwing his helmet and the subsequent ejection he received Sunday night from C.B....

AT NO. 8, KNICKS KEEP EYE ON FRYE

Channing Frye wants the Knicks as much as the size-challenged Knicks want Channing Frye. "How can you not be excited to be here and have a chance to play in...

INSURANCE ISSUE SNAGGING TRADE

The Knicks are trying to learn from the past, as they continue to hold up the Kurt Thomas-for-Quentin Richardson trade. As reported here yesterday, the Knicks refuse to take on...

CLOCK'S TICKING ON KURT TRADE

The Knicks and Suns are frantically trying to complete the Kurt Thomas-for-Quentin Richardson trade by Friday. Otherwise, the teams will have to wait at least another three weeks to finalize...

SUBS PUT UP SUPER NUMBERS

MET NOTES Now that Doug Mientkiewicz has joined Kazuo Matsui and Miguel Cairo on the disabled list, the three Mets who have started the most games on the right side...

WALKING TALL - YANKEES GAIN WITH 'WILD' WIN OVER O'S

Yankees 6 - Orioles 4 BALTIMORE - The Yankees playing as poorly as they have isn't baseball's biggest first-half surprise. The fact they aren't embalmed by now is more puzzling....

SWOOSH UPON A STAR - THE POST HITS THE STREET WITH NIKE SUMMER LEAGUES PAGE

New York City has long been the capital of the world when it comes to streetball. The five boroughs contain thousands of courts on which NBA stars and street legends...