Mar
02

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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Mar
01

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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Feb
28

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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