Italdesign imagines Alfa's future

Italdesign unveiled this 4-wheel drive coupe concept at the Geneva auto show this month. The Italian design and engineering house grafted twin turbochargers onto an Alfa Romeo 3.0L V-6, …

Give us a break, dealers tell Dodge; Sparks fly at meeting over new payment schedule.(Brief Article)

You took away, now give something back. That was the message Dodge dealers sent to DaimlerChrysler at a packed make meeting Sunday.

As part of recent cost-cutting efforts, DaimlerChrysler has eliminated certain payments to dealers, and will pay bonuses only to dealers who meet sales quotas set by the manufacturer. Dealers received their quotas Friday.

After spending the first 15 minutes of the 90-minute meeting venting about the takeaways and discussing how DaimlerChrysler got into its financial fix, dealers asked DaimlerChrysler executives, invited in for the rest of the meeting, to set realistic sales targets for dealers.

``That's absolutely …

Predictions and warnings.(Editorial)

Relying on knowledge gained from years of covering restaurants, and with the help of industry leaders, Senior Editor David Farkas put together a concise look at what to expect from the coming year. He examines the economy and it's impact on franchising, union threats, customer trends and more that we all will be paying close attention to.

Allow me to add my own predictions. I've been accused of wearing rose-colored glasses when I look at chain restaurants. But these days I don't see much to be optimistic about.

THINNING THE HERD

More restaurant companies will file for bankruptcy and close altogether. Just as Mother Nature sends lightning to spark …

MOST GOALS FOR IRAQ UNFULFILLED.(MAIN)

Byline: RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN Washington Post

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The American occupation of Iraq is formally ending this month having failed to fulfill many of its goals and stated promises intended to transform the country into a stable democracy, according to a detailed examination drawing upon interviews with senior U.S. and Iraqi officials and internal documents of the occupation authority.

The ambitious, 15-month undertaking stumbled because of a series of mistakes that began with an inadequate commitment of resources and deepened with a misunderstanding of how politics, religion and society would evolve in occupied Iraq, these participants said.

``We blatantly failed to get it right,'' said Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution who served as an adviser to the occupation authority. ``When you look at the record, it's impossible to escape the conclusion that we squandered an unprecedented opportunity.''

Viewed from Baghdad since April 2003, the occupation has evolved from an optimistic partnership …

WEDDING PHOTOS NEED FOCUS.(Local)

Byline: Fred LeBrun

We've all been to weddings we like to remember, and probably a few we'd love to forget but can't.

Figuring prominently in both is the hired chronicler of these blessed events, the all-seeing wedding photographer, easily as important as the clergyman and not always as easily paid off.

It's June, traditionally the month brides become such. Although I'm told by professionals more and more weddings in the Capital District happen in the fall rather than the spring and summer. Autumn is by far our most beautiful and predictable season so custom and logic are finally finding each other.

What prompts a word or two on wedding …

Holocaust survivor's dance sparks controversy

He's a Holocaust survivor dancing with his family on what easily could have been his own grave.

A video clip of Adolek Kohn awkwardly shuffling and shimmying with his daughter and grandchildren to the sound of "I Will Survive" at Auschwitz and other sites where millions died during the Holocaust has become an Internet sensation.

It's also sparking debate over whether the images show disrespect for those who perished _ or are an exuberant celebration of life.

The fight _ raging on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere _ poses uncomfortable questions about how to approach one of history's greatest tragedies: What's the "proper" way to …

S.Africa helping Aristide prepare Haiti return

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — South Africa is helping ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide prepare to return home after nearly seven years in exile, the foreign minister said Thursday.

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane did not specify when Aristide might leave South Africa, and did not say what has held up his return since the Haitian government granted his request for a new passport earlier this month.

"We are consulting with all interested parties to facilitate his return back home at the appropriate time," she said, adding Aristide had asked to go home.

Aristide, a former priest and Haiti's first democratically elected president, was ousted in a violent rebellion in …