Madoff can expect de facto life term at sentencing

NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Admitted thief Bernard Madoff will leave his jail cell and be taken under guard to court on Monday morning to hear his punishment for running Wall Street’s biggest and most brazen investment scheme.

The opening sentence in this article is ignorant. It It is not a crime to run a big or a brazen investment scheme.

‘Transformers’ $60.6 mln debut topples Wed. record

The effects rich, alien versus robot war movie, came close to eclipsing last year’s single-day debut of Batman movie “The Dark Knight,” which posthumously starred actor Heath Ledger and took in $67.2 million in domestic markets on its Friday debut.

In your article that compares the box office of the movies “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “The Dark Knight”, the writer claims actor Heath Ledger posthumously starred in his movie.

How does one posthumously star in a movie? Did Heath Ledger not actually star in the movie?

Now, if he won an award for his role, then he received that award posthumously…

Michael M.

That didn’t exactly say what we meant to say: GBU Editor

The family of the late Heath Ledger, including mother Sally Bell,  sister Kate Ledger, and father Kim Ledger, accept the Oscar for best supporting actor on Heath Ledger’s behalf for his work in “The Dark Knight” during the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2009.  REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

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Hi my name is Kyle Reuter and i was wondering if its legal for me to do News using my last name????

Kyle

Um, I don’t like to duck questions, but I don’t think I’m really the right person to advise you on this one.

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Alcohol kills over half of Russians in prime-study

MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - Cheap and illicit alcohol kills more than half Russian men and women in their most productive years and the government must act urgently to reverse the trend, a study to be published in The Lancet at the weekend said.

“Excessive alcohol consumption in Russia, particularly by men, has in several recent years caused more than half of all the deaths at ages of 15-54 years,” the Lancet article said.

Both your lead paragraph and your headline have the same error.

Alcohol does not kill half of all Russians in their most productive years. Rather, half of all deaths of Russians in their most productive years are killed by alcohol.

That’s a very important difference. Half of all deaths is a number in the hundreds of thousands; which is very high to be sure. If your paragraph were accurate than tens of millions of Russians would be dying.

M.A.K.

Yes. The story later makes clear what we meant, but the headline and lead are indeed misleading: GBU Editor

A man drinks antiseptic alcohol on a street in central Moscow in a 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

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Israel to build 50 new homes at West Bank settlement

News of the planned building work emerged hours before Defense Minister Ehud Barak left for the United States for talks aimed at narrowing a rift with Washington over settlements.

He will meet President Barack Obama’s Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, in New York on Tuesday, Barak’s office said.

A goal of the Israeli-U.S. negotiations is “advancing a process for a comprehensive regional settlement in the Middle East,” Barak’s office quoted him as saying in a statement.

Since when is it appropriate to call an international figure and national leader by their first name? “Barak’s office said.” “Barak left open the possibility of a limited, temporary…” “Barak has also spoken of couching a Palestinian deal…”

And people wonder why print journalism is a dying profession.

Stigler

I think you’re a little confused here. The second paragraph made a clear reference to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Barak is his surname, and is spelled differently from Barack, so it should be possible to keep them straight in the story: GBU Editor

Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak (R) meets U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in New York, June 30, 2009. REUTERS/Jamie Fine

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Police arrest 32 people over jewel heist

The Harry Winston chain provided jewels to Richard Burton for his wife Elizabeth Taylor and shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis bought an engagement ring there for former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

It is really not newsworthy of the reporters to make reference to ‘celebrities’ people today wouldn’t know or care two hoots about.  Please.

Jean-François

Please tell me you’re joking. I realize Jackie Kennedy was no Kate Gosselin in the fame department, but she did get her name in the papers a few times: GBU Editor

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis shown in this June 27, 1953 photograph with then Senator John F. Kennedy in Hyannisport, Massachusetts

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Soros says worst of global crisis is “behind us”

“Decidedly the worst (of the crisis) is already behind us,” said Soros, a 78-year-old Hungarian-born American with Jewish roots.

Why is it relevant in this article, which is not a profile, that Soros has ‘Jewish roots?’

The answer is that it is not relevant, so why is a respected news organization like Reuters allowing it to appear?

Thanks for any explanation that you can provide.

Mark

I found this sentence curious because Mr Soros’ religion seems irrelevant to his economic opinions–unless, of course, one believes that Jews know more about money than gentiles. I could frankly understand mentioning his liberal politics or his opinions about George W Bush. But the fact that he’s Jewish? Strange indeed.

R.S.

I agree. If we felt this detail was relevant we should have made the reason clear in our story. We didn’t: GBU Editor

George Soros, chairman of the Soros Fund Management and Open Society, speaks during an interview with Reuters in New York April 6, 2009. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

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Ghana lose four key players for Sudan match

NAIVASHA, Kenya, June 17 (Reuters) - Four-times Africa champions Ghana have lost four top players as they prepare in Kenya for Saturday’s 2010 World Cup qualifier against Sudan.

Veteran skipper Stephen Appiah of Fenerbache, Inter Milan’s Sulley Muntari, West Ham’s John Panstil and Baffour Gyan of Russia’s FC Saturn are all out of the Group D encounter in Omdurman.

Ghana’s Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, Rennes striker Asamoah Gyan, Lyon defender John Mensah, goalkeeper Richard Kingston of Wigan Athletic and Zamalek’s striker Junior Agogo are all in the team who beat Mali 2-0 two weeks ago.

There are several clear errors in this article and it also seems to suggest some things that are not true.

First of all, Ghana’s defender’s name is John Pantsil, not Panstil or Panstill. He also plays for Fulham not West Ham.

Second, Appiah, Muntari and Baffour Gyan did not play in the Mali game. The only player Ghana is missing from the squad that beat Mali is John Pantsil. Furthermore, Baffour Gyan is not a “key player” for the Black Stars. He is behind Asamoah Gyan, Matthew Amoah, Junior Agogo, Joetex Frimpong, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and Prince Tagoe in the pecking order. He hasn’t been called up to the Black Stars in a long time.

Third, Asamoah Gyan and Junior Agogo did not play in the match against Mali as is implied in this article. Gyan was injured and Agogo was not used.

In summary, I think that this article is very poor.

Kyle

I can’t argue with that. This wasn’t our finest hour, that’s for sure. We put out a correction to clean up the mess: GBU Editor

Ghana’s John Pantsil kicks a ball in a 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Petr Josek

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British WWI veteran becomes world’s oldest man

Allingham’s life has spanned three centuries and six monarchs, starting with Queen Victoria. He has five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.

Please verify that you meant to report this man’s life spanned three centuries. That would make him 300 years old I think…

Tucker

This story states “Allingham’s life has spanned three centuries and six monarchs” which I believe would actually make him 300 years old not 113. Just a little catch.

P.S.
 
One century is 100 years. Three centuries is 300 years. If he is 113 years old, he has lived for one century and thirteen years.
 
H.S.

A surprising number of readers made similar comments about this reference. This is a fairly common way of saying someone lived DURING three centuries - the 19th, 20th and 21st. We’re aware that he isn’t 300 years old: GBU EDITOR

 Britain’s oldest man, Henry Allingham, holds a glass of champagne during his 113th birthday party at HMS President, in London June 6, 2009. The Royal Navy organised the party for Allingham, on the day of his birthday, for his family, close friends and members of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.      REUTERS/Luke MacGregor  

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Something of a specialist in creating roles for women, he made Diane Keaton a star with “Annie Hall” in 1977 and has since worked with actresses ranging from his former wife Mia Farrow to Mira Sorvino and Scarlett Johansson.

Correction….Allen was never married to Mia Farrow as you erroneously state.
I guess my question is: why don’t you have a more visible way to comment or correct stories? Had to dig for his and am not sure this is the right place…

E.C.

Several readers pointed this out to us. We corrected. I’m sorry you had trouble finding a way to send us feedback. Obviously, it did reach the right place: GBU Editor

Director Woody Allen (R) and his wife Soon-Yi pose at the premiere of the film “Whatever Works” in Paris June 19, 2009. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

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