Spill in China Lays Bare Environmental Concerns

Adam Dean for The New York TimesA member of the Handan Winter Swimming Association, which has sued over a chemical spill. HANDAN, China — The first warning came in the form of dead fish floating in a river. Then officials in this city got confirmation that a chemical spill had taken place at a fertilizer factory upstream. They shut off the tap water, which sent residents into a scramble for...

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Alec Baldwin Is Busy Fulfilling Expectant Hilaria's Fruit Requests

Mark Davis/WireImageFatherhood is nothing new to Alec Baldwin. But daddy duty later in life? Now that’s a whole new playing field.Already dad to daughter Ireland, 17, the actor and his wife Hilaria are set to welcome their first child together this summer — and Baldwin is busy taking in the experience.“Being around a woman when she’s pregnant and I’m older now — quite a bit older, actually — it’s...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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With record highs in sight, stocks face roadblocks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If Wall Street needs to climb a wall of worry, it will have plenty of opportunity next week. Major U.S. stock indexes will make another attempt at reaching all-time records, but the fitful pace that has dominated trading is likely to continue. Next Friday's unemployment report and the hefty spending cuts that look like they about to take effect will be at the forefront....

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At War Blog: Remembering a Silent Success in Afghanistan

December in the mountains of southern Afghanistan greeted me and my men with strong and seemingly endless gusts of wind. The frigid temperatures were equally unforgiving. Our living quarters were constructed out of cardboard boxes and plastic sheeting, which didn’t create much of an escape. The highlight of my day, despite the obvious threat, was leading patrols as a squad leader. The physical activity...

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Family Creates Bucket List for Dying 9-Month-Old Daughter

By Andrea Billups 03/01/2013 at 12:00 PM EST Quinn Linzer and her parents, Brett and Eileen Linzer A Long Island family, facing the prospect of the death of their 9-month-old daughter, has created a bucket list of sorts to maximize her brief life.Quinn Linzer...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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Lens Blog: Gustav Arvidsson's Photos of Landless Peasants in Colombia

Land is no small thing in Latin America. Dynasties flush with wealth and power have arisen from plantations and cattle ranches owned by a select few families. For those left on the margins, taking over a tiny, fallow plot long forgotten by its owners may be the only thing keeping their family alive.Until someone pushes them out.Gustav Arvidsson has been following the plight of landless peasants in...

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Ben Affleck & More Oscar Nominees Then and Now

By Alicia Dennis 02/28/2013 at 12:30 PM EST Jason Merritt/Getty; Jim Smeal/WireImage The years may have passed, but the talent remains for Oscar nominees who have been there, done that and continue to look good doing it.Denzel Washington, Robert De Niro, Helen Hunt, Sally Field, Alan Arkin...

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Medicare paid $5.1B for poor nursing home care

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Medicare paid billions in taxpayer dollars to nursing homes nationwide that were not meeting basic requirements to look after their residents, government investigators have found.The report, released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general, said Medicare paid about $5.1 billion for patients to stay in skilled nursing facilities that failed to...

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Wall Street drifts after two-day run, Dow record in sight

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday with investors hard-pressed to lift indexes to multi-year highs despite strong economic data. The U.S. economy ticked up in the fourth quarter, reversing an earlier estimate showing contraction, and a drop in new claims for unemployment benefits last week added to a string of data that suggests the economy improved early this year....

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The Lede: Video of Pope Benedict’s Public Farewell

An English translation from the Vatican of Pope Benedict XVI’s last general audience before his formal resignation on Thursday. As our colleagues, Rachel Donadio and Alan Cowell report, Pope Benedict XVI held his final general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, a day before he withdraws from the public for a cloistered life of prayer and meditation.Before tens of thousands of people gathered...

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Josh Brolin and Diane Lane's Split Was 'Mutual,' Says James Brolin

By Andrea Billups 02/27/2013 at 12:30 PM EST James Brolin said his son Josh is doing fine in the wake of his impending divorce from Diane Lane, calling their split "mutual."Brolin – who accompanied wife Barbra Streisand as she performed at the Oscars Sunday night – said his son, 45, was watching the Academy...

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Vt. lye victim gets new face at Boston hospital

BOSTON (AP) — A Vermont nurse disfigured in a 2007 lye attack has received a new face at a Boston hospital.Carmen Blandin Tarleton's full facial transplant at Brigham & Women's Hospital included transplanting a female donor's facial skin to Tarleton's neck, nose and lips, along with facial muscles, arteries and nerves.Hospital officials say the 44-year-old Thetford, Vt., woman suffered burns on...

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India Ink: Image of the Day: Feb. 26

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Ben Affleck Finally Comes Clean - and Shaves His Beard!

02/26/2013 at 12:40 PM EST Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck David Livingston/Getty And what did Ben Affleck do after his Argo won Best Picture on Sunday night? He took it all off – his facial hair, that is.A friend of the actor-filmmaker's confirms to PEOPLE that following the Oscars ceremony...

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C. Everett Koop, 'rock star' surgeon general, dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. C. Everett Koop has long been regarded as the nation's doctor— even though it has been nearly a quarter-century since he was surgeon general.Koop, who died Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H., at age 96, was by far the best known and most influential person to carry that title. Koop, a 6-foot-1 evangelical Presbyterian with a biblical prophet's beard, donned a public health uniform...

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South Korea’s Park Geun-hye Warns North Against Nuclear Pursuits

Park Jin-Hee/Getty ImagesPark Geun-Hye, South Korea's president, salutes during her inauguration ceremony in front of the National Assembly building on Monday in Seoul. SEOUL, South Korea — The country’s new president, Park Geun-hye, was sworn into office on Monday, facing far more complicated fissures both within South Korea and with North Korea than her father did during his Cold War dictatorship,...

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Jennifer Aniston: The Real Reason I Loved My Oscar Gown

Stylewatch Style News Now 02/25/2013 at 01:10 AM ET Jason Merritt/GettyNeed another reason to love Jennifer Aniston — and her elegant Oscars gown? Just wait until you hear why she picked it: “It fits, it’s comfortable and it’s easy...

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FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent...

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Wall Street dips on uncertain Italian election

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Monday after fears of a divided parliament in Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, rekindled worries about the currency union's stability. The center-right coalition led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was leading in the race for the Italian Senate, dashing hopes of a pro-reform, center-left victory seen as crucial to dig...

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In Last Sunday Address as Pope, Benedict Says He Will Continue to Serve

Andrew Medichini/Associated PressPope Benedict XVI delivered his final Sunday address from the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square. VATICAN CITY — In his last Sunday blessing before he retires, Pope Benedict XVI reassured Catholics that he was not abandoning them but would continue to serve the church even in his retirement. Romans, pilgrims and curious tourists filled...

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You're Invited to PEOPLE.com's Oscars Party!

02/24/2013 at 08:40 AM EST From left: Bradley Cooper, Oscar, Jessica Chastain AFP/Getty; Wireimage; Splash News Online Oscars host Seth MacFarlane isn't the only one gearing up for Hollywood's biggest night – we are too! Be a part of the glamour and excitement Sunday starting at 6 p.m. ET/3...

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Investors face another Washington deadline

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large. Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling. Talks on the U.S. budget...

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