Premier of Iraq Is Quietly Firing Fraud Monitors
(Middle East/NY Times - News/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
The dismissals come as estimates of Iraqi corruption have soared.

Iraqi and American Critics of Security Pact Speak Up
(Middle East/NY Times - News/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
Objections were voiced a day after the Iraqi cabinet approved the pact and sent it to Parliament for ratification.

World Briefing | Middle East: Syria: Uranium Traces Inconclusive, Head of U.N. Atomic Agency Says
(Middle East/NY Times - News/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
Traces of uranium found at a Syrian site bombed by Israel are not sufficient evidence of undeclared nuclear activity, the director of International Atomic Energy Agency said.

World Briefing | Middle East: Israel: 250 Palestinians to Be Released
(Middle East/NY Times - News/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
Israel said that it would release 250 Palestinian prisoners next month as a gesture to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

World Briefing | Middle East: Israel: Car Bomb Kills Mafia Leader
(Middle East/NY Times - News/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
A bomb exploded in a car carrying one of Israels top mafia kingpins, killing him and threatening to unleash an all-out war in Israels increasingly violent underworld.

Music Review | Kirov Orchestra and Chorus of the Maryinsky Theater: A Brisk Prokofiev Comedy, Without Opera Heroics
(World News/Music - NY Times/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
A concert performance by the conductor Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra and Chorus of the Maryinsky Theater at Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday was a reminder that Prokofievs Love for Three Oranges is endlessly inventive.

Music Review | American Composers Orchestra: A Wide-Ranging Evening With Cymbals and Dog Whistles
(World News/Music - NY Times/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
During a return engagement on Friday night Jeffrey Milarsky authoritatively conducted the American Composers Orchestra in five disparate works, including three commissioned premieres.

Music Review | Ani and Ida Kavafian: Violin Duo Celebrating Milestone, Helped by Friends and Disciples
(World News/Music - NY Times/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center hosted a concert in honor of the violinist sisters Ani and Ida Kavafian, who made their Carnegie Hall debut as a duo 25 years ago.

Music Review | Andrea Marcovicci: Cheek to Cheek With Fred Astaire and Other Hollywood Royalty
(World News/Music - NY Times/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
Andrea Marcoviccis new show, Marcovicci Sings Movies II, at the Oak Room, is an extensively altered and improved revival of one she performed there 21 years ago.

Music Review: A Dark and Ghostly Work, Bereft of High Spirits
(World News/Music - NY Times/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
The violinist Vadim Repin played Prokofievs spooky violin scales at the end of the first movement in his Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor with eerie, barely audible pianissimos during a performance with the pianist Nikolai Lugansky.

Totally Over: Last Squeals for TRL
(World News/Music - NY Times/NY Times) 18.November 2008 04:45
The afternoon video show, which ended Sunday after being an MTV flagship for 10 years, was just a little too 20th-century to survive the YouTube age.