The Lede Blog: New Photographs Stir Doubts About Bashar's Baby and Iran's Space Monkey

Last Updated, Saturday, 12:37 p.m. Bad news, readers: new images appear to cast doubt on the accuracy of two of the week’s most widely-reported stories — the rumored pregnancy of Syria’s first lady, and the pioneering space flight of an Iranian monkey.As the Washington Post correspondent Liz Sly reported, President Bashar al-Assad’s office posted five new photographs of his wife, Asma, on Facebook,...

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Apple TV Is Running Late

So, Apple‘s big plan to talk cable companies into making the iPod of the television industry thus far involves getting Time Warner to let it put HBO Go on its box (if you buy a cable subscription!), something other similar boxes already do. How very unexciting. It’s surprising that Apple TV doesn’t already offer HBO Go, since its biggest competitors Roku and Xbox 360...

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NFL's Goodell aims to share blame on player safety

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to share the blame."Safety," he said at his annual Super Bowl news conference, "is all of our responsibilities."Not surprisingly, given that thousands of former players are suing the league about its handling of concussions, the topics of player health and improved safety dominated Goodell's 45-minute session Friday. And he often sounded like...

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Ferrol Sams, Doctor Turned Novelist, Dies at 90

Ferrol Sams, a country doctor who started writing fiction in his late 50s and went on to win critical praise and a devoted readership for his humorous and perceptive novels and stories that drew on his medical practice and his rural Southern roots, died on Tuesday at his home in Lafayette, Ga. He was 90. The cause, said his son Ferrol Sams III, also a doctor, was that he was “slap wore...

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Media Decoder Blog: In Wake of Restructuring, NBC News President Quits

8:30 p.m. | Updated The longest-serving president of any of the three network news divisions, Steve Capus of NBC News, stepped down from his position on Friday, six months after Comcast restructured its news units in a way that diminished his authority.Pat Fili-Krushel, chairwoman of the NBCUniversal News Group, said in a brief telephone interview on Friday that she would “cast a wide net” while searching...

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The Lede Blog: Video Shows Aftermath of U.S. Embassy Bombing in Turkey

Associated Press video showing the damage to the perimeter of the United States Embassy in Turkey after a suicide bombing in Ankara on Friday.As my colleagues Sebnem Arsu and Rick Gladstone report, a suicide bomber attacked the American Embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara on Friday, in a blast that officials said killed at least one Turkish citizen and wounded another at a side entrance to the compound.A...

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Google moves closer to resolving EU investigation

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google has offered to take specific steps to allay competition regulators’ concerns about its business practices, in a major move towards ending a two-year investigation and avoiding billions of dollars in fines.The European Commission said on Friday it had received detailed proposals from the world’s most popular search engine, which has been under investigation following complaints...

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Goodell says he welcomes Obama's remarks on safety

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league will look at eliminating certain low blocks and improve the quality of playing fields as part of a program to improve player safety.In his annual message on the state of the league two days before Sunday's Super Bowl, Goodell said neurosurgeons will also be added to game day medical staffs.Goodell pledged to pioneer new approaches to...

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SciTimes Update: Recent Developments in Science and Health News

Michael Probst/Associated PressBaby hedgehogs in Germany. Friday in science, clues to owls’ backwardness, fresh dangers to the seas and the launch of a giant kite. Check out these and other headlines from around the Web. Phil Marino for The New York TimesPhysicists monitored data from heavy ion collisions in the control room at Brookhaven National Laboratory particle collider in 2007....

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DealBook: Capital One Hires Centerview Executive as Finance Chief

Capital One Financial said on Friday that it had hired Stephen S. Crawford, a top executive of the boutique investment bank Centerview Partners, as its chief financial officer.He will join Capital One on Monday as chief financial officer designate, and on May 24 will formally replace Gary L. Perlin, who will retire. Upon joining the bank, Mr. Crawford will report to its chairman and chief executive,...

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Hagel Offers Endorsement of U.S. Military Might

Brendan Hoffman for The New York TimesChuck Hagel arrived for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. WASHINGTON — Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s nominee to be secretary of defense, engaged in a sharp exchange with his old friend, Senator John McCain, at the opening of his confirmation hearing on Thursday when Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, pressed him...

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The 7 most dedicated employees

You probably don’t want to forward this roster of tireless go-getters to your bossSome people probably feel they deserve a medal for merely getting up and going to work every day, but only a few actually merit one. Take Deborah Ford, for example. This 64-year-old Detroit postal worker, who recently retired, didn’t use a single sick day in all of her 44 years on the job. Not a single one!...

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49ers' Culliver apologizes for anti-gay remarks

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver apologized Thursday for anti-gay comments he made to a comedian during Super Bowl media day, saying "that's not what I feel in my heart.""I'm sorry if I offended anyone. They were very ugly comments," Culliver said during an hour-long media session. "Hopefully I learn and grow from this experience and this situation."He said he would...

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SciTimes Update: Recent Developments in Science and Health News

NASAResearchers tracked the movement of carbon monoxide molecules orbiting a black hole within the galaxy NGC 4526 to determine its mass. Thursday in science, possible advances in cancer diagnosis, weighing black holes, shocking photos from space and good news for a breed of penguins. Check out these and other headlines from around the Web. How Heavy Is That Black Hole?: Concerned about the...

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DealBook: Deutsche Bank Posts Surprise $3 Billion Loss

FRANKFURT – Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest lender, reported a surprise net loss of 2.2 billion euros ($3 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2012 on Thursday, hurt by the diminished value of some assets as well as costs related to numerous legal proceedings.The results underline the task ahead for Jürgen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, the co- chief executives who took over the bank less than seven months...

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Syrian Opposition Leader Softens Position on Talks with Assad

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria’s top political opposition leader expressed willingness for the first time on Wednesday to talk with representatives of President Bashar al-Assad, softening what had been an absolute stand of refusing to negotiate with the government in an increasingly chaotic civil war. The opposition leader, Sheik Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, coupled his offer with two demands: the release...

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California police probe stunts that shut down freeways

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The California Highway Patrol is investigating two apparently unrelated stunts that jammed freeways over the weekend, including one involving hundreds of motorcyclists celebrating a marriage proposal that inconvenienced motorists east of Los Angeles.Both events created a flurry of viral Internet videos, fueling concerns about a repeat performance by copycats.On Interstate 10...

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Lewis tells Harbaugh 'nothing to' report

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ravens coach John Harbaugh says star linebacker Ray Lewis assured him "there's nothing to" a magazine report linking him to a company that makes deer-antler spray containing a banned performance enhancer.Harbaugh said Wednesday morning he spoke with Lewis. The coach said Lewis "knows there is nothing to it. He understands it's something he's never been involved in."On Tuesday, Sports...

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SciTimes Update: Recent Developments in Health and Science News

Charles A. Nelson Lab, University of MinnesotaStudying the infant brain. From the book:  "Raising America: Experts, Parents and a Century of Advice About Children" by Ann Hulbert. Wednesday in Science, babies who know what’s on your mind, a sinkhole in China, coral reefs in crisis and a soldier who can now talk with his hands. Check out these and other headlines from around the Web. ...

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Today's Economist: Casey B. Mulligan: The Health Care Law and Retirement Savings

Casey B. Mulligan is an economics professor at the University of Chicago. He is the author of “The Redistribution Recession: How Labor Market Distortions Contracted the Economy.” Because of its definition of affordability, beginning next year the Affordable Care Act may affect retirement savings.Employer contributions to employee pension plans are exempt from payroll and personal income taxes at the...

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Ukrainian General Given Life Sentence in Killing of Journalist

Sergey Dolzhenko/European Pressphoto AgencyGen. Oleksei Pukach listened to his sentence from the defendant's cage during a court session of the Pechersk district court on charges of murder of the journalist Georgy Gongadze in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday. MOSCOW — A Ukrainian court sentenced a former security official to life in prison on Tuesday for the death of Georgy Gongadze, a journalist whose mysterious...

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China may consider ending its decade-long ban on video game consoles

Shares of Sony (SNE) and Nintendo (NTDOY) surged on Monday following a report from China’s official newspaper that claimed the country is considering the lift of a decade-long ban on video game consoles. An unnamed source told the China Daily newspaper that the Ministry of Culture is “reviewing the policy,” and has conducted surveys and held discussions with other ministries on the possibility of...

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Report links A-Rod with PED use; MLB investigates

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball said it is "extremely disappointed" about new allegations of performance-enhancing drug use against Alex Rodriguez and other players contained in a newspaper report.The Miami New Times, a popular alternative weekly, said in a story Tuesday that it had obtained files through an employee at a recently closed clinic in south Florida that show Rodriguez purchased...

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Well: Ask Well: Long-Term Use of Nicotine Gum

In small doses, like those contained in the gum, nicotine is generally considered safe. But it does have stimulant properties that can raise blood pressure, increase heart rate and constrict blood vessels. One large report from 2010 found that compared to people given a placebo, those who used nicotine replacement therapies had a higher risk of heart palpitations and chest pains.That’s one reason...

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DealBook: Gleacher to Leave His Investment Bank

9:32 a.m. | Updated with interview with Mr. GleacherEric J. Gleacher, a veteran deal maker who participated in the fight over RJR Nabisco, said on Tuesday that he would leave the investment bank he founded about 23 years ago.The departure of Mr. Gleacher as chairman comes months after his struggling firm hired Credit Suisse to explore a sale.Gleacher & Company disclosed last month that the Nasdaq...

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