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• Previous Timeline: April 2003

From the Associated Press:

NOIDA, India—Music played, drinks were served and the priest got ready as 2,000 wedding guests waited on the sprawling lawn for the beautiful young bride to walk in for the ceremony. At that moment, Nisha Sharma, dressed in the shimmering red dress of a Hindu bride, was on the phone asking police to arrest her husband-to-be for mistreating her father while demanding an illegal dowry. In calling off her marriage Sunday night, 21-year-old Sharma defied centuries-old tradition and made headlines across a country of more than one billion people where women have made great strides, yet many parents still prefer sons. So rare was her stand that the software engineering student became an overnight celebrity. Her face has been splashed across newspapers and she has been flooded with proposals from men who say they would be honored to marry her without a dowry. Several political parties are vying to woo her into their ranks. link

NEW ORLEANS - Suddenly, the heart of the French Quarter looks a lot more like it did 30 years ago, and not everyone is happy about it. As of [last month], the incense-burning tarot card readers have been evicted from much of Jackson Square's flagstone promenades. The fortunetellers were frequented by tourists but accused by many locals of overrunning one of the most scenic and historic public spaces in urban America. Their removal stems from the City Council's latest effort to placate the artists who have painted in the square for more than half a century. The artists' colony had been thinning out in recent years and members warned it would disappear without help. Artist Stanley Beck said he stopped working in the square for the same reason as a number of other artists: The fortunetellers were squatting in prime spaces along the wrought iron fence where painters display their work. But now, he said, he might return with his watercolors. link

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Book News:

• The 50 greatest adventure books ever and a roundup of this year's summer reading from Book magazine.
• BBC releases Top 100 fiction favorites, from BBC News.
• London Review of Books eschews ivory tower, opens book shop, from the London Guardian.
• Outdoor reading room returns to New York Public Library, from the New York Times.*
• Disgraced reporter looks to cash in on fabrication scandal with book proposal, from the Washington Post.
• Hollywood may try another Charlie and the Chocolate Factory flick, from the London Guardian.
• "Street life" genre is growing in publishing, says the Washington Post.
• Publishing's political right turn, from the Associated Press.
• New Latin dictionary is "liber venditissimus" or a best-seller, says the AP.

Book Reviews:

• New survey of global threats gives civilization 50-50 chance to last the century, says the New York Times.*
• Simple, scientific explanations for 'nearly everything,' from the NYT.*
• M.I.T. research scientist shows literary side of science in short story collection, says the NYT.*

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