Q & A - WITH RABBI RISKIN
Question:
Whenever I am in America or Europe the relatives and friends with whom I am staying receive the newspaper delivered to the house early Shabbat morning. Is it permissible to read that paper on Shabbat?
Answer:
It is forbidden to even move the newspaper, because the newspaper is within the category of being Muktzeh, not permissible for Sabbath use.
This is for 2 reasons:
1) The paper is usually put together late Friday night or early Shabbat morning. Hence it was "created" (nolad) on the Sabbath itself, and anything which is "born" on the Sabbath itself is forbidden from Sabbath use.
2) Since it was not available to you at the advent of the Sabbath (even if it had been completed and totally printed beforehand), it had to be delivered on the Sabbath and was brought from a faraway place usually by forbidden vehicular traffic. Anything which is not available to you at the onset of the Sabbath is forbidden for the entire Sabbath.
