Economic Frustration Simmers Again in Tunisia

Moises Saman for The New York TimesPeople in Tunis and across the country are struggling with high unemployment and inflation. TUNIS — Tahar Bayahi, who runs Tunisia’s largest grocery store chain, spent the days right after the revolution toting up his losses: one-quarter of his 60 stores nationwide incinerated and another quarter pillaged. Yet his company, Magasins Général, turned right...

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The Kids Are All Right: How Social Media Created a Generation of Activists

This week marked the nation’s inaugural  “Giving Tuesday,” a UN sponsored initiative, which utilized social media to encourage businesses, schools, and community members to give back. The effort resulted in $ 10 million worth of donations made in a single day, a 53 percent increase over the same day last year.Conceived as a means to promote activism and charity, the campaign’s use of social media...

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KC police: Chiefs player involved in shootings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 25-year-old Kansas City Chiefs player shot his girlfriend early Saturday, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and turned the gun on himself as two team officials were confronting him, police said.Kansas City police Supervisor Andrea Khan would not release the name of the player involved and the condition of the two parties was not immediately known.Police spokesman Darin Snapp...

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Media Decoder Blog: Robert Thomson to Be Chief of News Corporation's New Publishing Company

Robert Thomson, the top editor at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones and a confidante of News Corporation’s chairman and chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, is expected to be named chief executive of the media conglomerate’s newly spun-off publishing company.Mr. Thomson will run the separate, publicly traded company, which will include The Journal, The New York Post, HarperCollins and a suite of lucrative...

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Israel Moves to Expand Settlements in East Jerusalem

Rina Castelnuovo for The New York TimesFrom his home in East Jerusalem last year, Haj Ibrahim Ahmad Hawa looked at the separation barrier surrounding Jerusalem with the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the background. More Photos »JERUSALEM — As the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the Palestinians’ status Thursday night, Israel took steps toward building housing...

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Saints' Vilma, Smith attend Williams hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Right from the start, the NFL said Gregg Williams was in charge of a pay-for-pain bounty system with the New Orleans Saints.The former defensive coordinator — who told the league about others' involvement — was being cross-examined Friday by lawyers for players appealing their suspensions in the case.And two of those players, Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive lineman...

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Hockey Coaches Defy Doctors on Concussions, Study Finds

Despite several years of intensive research, coverage and discussion about the dangers of concussions, the idea of playing through head injuries is so deeply rooted in hockey culture that two university teams kept concussed players on the ice even though they were taking part in a major concussion study. The study, which will be published Friday in a series of articles in the journal Neurosurgical...

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Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Overhaul of Electronic Communications Privacy Act

J. Scott Applewhite/Associated PressPatrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading an e-mail privacy effort. The bill is not expected to make it through Congress this year and will be the subject of negotiations next year with the Republican-led House. But the Senate panel’s approval was a first step toward an overhaul of a 1986 law that...

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U.S. Is Weighing Stronger Action in Syrian Conflict

Francisco Leong/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesRebels in northern Syria celebrated on Wednesday next to what was reported to be a government fighter jet. WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, is considering deeper intervention to help push President Bashar al-Assad from power, according to government officials involved in the discussions....

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Tagliabue holds Saints bounties hearing in DC

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived for a hearing in the Saints bounties case.Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington.Former Saints assistant Mike Cerullo, a key witness in the NFL's investigation, is scheduled to speak Thursday. Former New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams...

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Cost of Brand-Name Prescription Medicines Soaring

The price of brand-name prescription medicines is rising far faster than the inflation rate, while the price of generic drugs has plummeted, creating the largest gap so far between the two, according to a report published Wednesday by the pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts. The report tracked an index of commonly used drugs and found that the price of brand-name medicines increased...

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Medicare Is Faulted in Electronic Medical Records Conversion

The conversion to electronic medical records — a critical piece of the Obama administration’s plan for health care reform — is “vulnerable” to fraud and abuse because of the failure of Medicare officials to develop appropriate safeguards, according to a sharply critical report to be issued Thursday by federal investigators. Mike Spencer/Wilmington Star-News, via Associated PressCeleste...

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Bombings Are Said to Kill Dozens Near Syria’s Capital

Francisco Leong/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesRebels celebrated on top of a downed Syrian jet in Daret Azzeh, 20 miles west of Aleppo, on Wednesday. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Syrian state media said on Wednesday that 34 people and possibly many more had died in twin car bombings in a suburb populated by minorities only a few miles from the center of Damascus, the capital, as the...

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German lawmakers condemn Google campaign against copyright law

BERLIN (Reuters) – Senior German politicians have denounced as propaganda a campaign by Google to mobilize public opinion against proposed legislation to let publishers charge search engines for displaying newspaper articles.Internet lobbyists say they are worried the German law will set a precedent for other countries such as France and Italy that have shown an interest in having Google pay publishers...

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Bonds, Clemens, Sosa on Hall ballot for first time

NEW YORK (AP) — Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa are listed on the baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, setting up an election sure to become a referendum on the Steroids Era.The 37-player ballot was announced Wednesday.More than 600 longtime members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America will vote through next month. Candidates need 75 percent for induction, and the...

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F.D.A. May Tap Experts on Energy Drinks

The Food and Drug Administration said in a letter released on Tuesday that it was likely to seek advice from outside experts to help determine whether energy drinks posed particular risks to teenagers or people with underlying health problems. The letter appears to signal a change in the agency’s approach to the drinks, which contain high levels of caffeine. Previously, F.D.A....

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Ex-NASA Scientist’s Data Fears Come True

In 2007, Robert M. Nelson, an astronomer, and 27 other scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory sued NASA arguing that the space agency’s background checks of employees of government contractors were unnecessarily invasive and violated their privacy rights. Privacy advocates chimed in as well, contending that the space agency would not be able to protect the confidential details it was...

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Protesters Gather Again in Cairo Streets to Denounce Morsi

CAIRO — Thousands of people flowed into the streets of Cairo, the Egyptian capital, Tuesday afternoon for a day of protest against President Mohamed Morsi’s attempt to assert broad new powers for the duration of the country’s political transition, dismissing his efforts just the night before to reaffirm his deference to Egyptian law and courts. By early Tuesday afternoon in Cairo, a dense...

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Nintendo says more than 400,000 Wii Us sold in US

NEW YORK (AP) — Nintendo has sold more than 400,000 of its new video game console, the Wii U, in its first week on sale in the U.S., the company said Monday.The Wii U launched on Nov. 18 in the U.S. at a starting price of $ 300. Nintendo said the sales figure, based on internal estimates, is through Saturday, or seven days later.The Wii U is the first major game console to launch in six years. It...

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Eagles lose receiver DeSean Jackson to injury

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles will place wide receiver DeSean Jackson on injured reserve after he sustained multiple rib fractures in Monday night's loss to Carolina.Jackson leads the team with 45 catches and 700 yards receiving, but has only two touchdowns. Coach Andy Reid says the injury could take six weeks to heal.Reid says running back LeSean McCoy remains in phase one of his concussion...

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Imaging Shows Progressive Damage by Parkinson’s

For the first time, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report, brain imaging has been able to show in living patients the progressive damage Parkinson’s disease causes to two small structures deep in the brain. The new technique confirms some ideas about the overall progress of the disease in the brain. But the effects of Parkinson’s vary in patients, the researchers...

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News Analysis: St. Jude Medical Suffers for Redacting a Product Name

Peter Muhly for The New York TimesDr. Ernest Lau holds a Durata lead from a St. Jude Medical Fortify ICD, an implanted heart defibrillator. IS covering a product’s name in a public document a sign that a company has something to hide? And how should doctors, patients and investors react if the product at issue is one on which peoples’ lives and a company’s fortunes depend? Such questions...

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