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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England Develops a Voracious Appetite for a New Diet

LONDON — Visitors to England right now, be warned. The big topic on people’s minds — from cabdrivers to corporate executives — is not Kate Middleton’s increasingly visible baby bump (though the craze does involve the size of one’s waistline), but rather a best-selling diet book that has sent the British into a fasting frenzy. “The Fast Diet,” published in mid-January in Britain, could do...

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Hungary Experiments With Food Tax to Coax Healthier Habits

Akos Stiller for The New York TimesStore owners say sales of some salty and sugary foods are down, but youths are still eating similar snacks, some with less salt or with cheaper ingredients, and drinking sugary beverages. BUDAPEST — Gizella Beres Devenyi, who works behind the cash register at the delicatessen Zena in a working-class neighborhood here, says it is easy to see Hungary’s new salt tax...

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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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McIlroy walks off course at Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Rory McIlroy abruptly walked off the course Friday at the Honda Classic, telling reporters who followed him to his car he's "not in a good place mentally." An hour later, he attributed his withdrawal to a sore wisdom tooth.It raised serious questions about golf's No. 1 player with the Masters just more than a month away.McIlroy already was 7-over par through eight holes...

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The New Old Age Blog: Why Can’t I Live With People Like Me?

“Aging in place” is the mantra of long-term care. Whether looking at reams of survey data, talking to friends or wishing on a star, who among us wouldn’t rather spend the final years — golden or less so — at home, surrounded by our cherished possessions, in our own bed, no cranky old coot as a roommate, no institutional smells or sounds, no lukewarm meals on a schedule of someone else’s making?That...

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Detroit Car Sales Climb Again

DETROIT – Sales of new vehicles in the United States rose modestly in February, as consumers continued to buy more fuel-efficient cars and as businesses replaced aging pickup trucks with newer models. Auto executives said overall industry sales for the month would improve about 2 percent over the strong results reported in the same period a year ago. The seasonally adjusted annual...

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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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Rodman tells Kim Jong Un he has 'friend for life'

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman hung out Thursday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un on the third day of his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later dining and drinking with him at his palace."You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched...

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The New Old Age Blog: For the Elderly, Medical Procedures to Avoid

The Choosing Wisely campaign, an initiative by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation in partnership with Consumer Reports, kicked off last spring. It is an attempt to alert both doctors and patients to problematic and commonly overused medical tests, procedures and treatments.It took an elegantly simple approach: By working through professional organizations representing medical specialties,...

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DealBook: For S.E.C., a Setback in Bid for More Time in Fraud Cases

The Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered a swift and decisive rejection of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s argument that it should operate under a more forgiving statute of limitations in pursuing penalties in fraud cases.As a result of the decision, the agency will have to find a long-term solution to give itself more time to investigate cases.In Gabelli v. Securities and Exchange Commission,...

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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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Personal Health: Too Many Pills in Pregnancy

The thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s left thousands of babies with deformed limbs because their mothers innocently took a sleeping pill thought to be safe during pregnancy,In its well-publicized wake, countless pregnant women avoided all medications, fearing that any drug they took could jeopardize their babies’ development.I was terrified in December 1968 when, during the first weeks of my...

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DealBook: Obama’s Nominee for S.E.C. Tries to Allay Skepticism

Mary Jo White’s path to the Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a crucial juncture: the Congressional charm campaign.Lawmakers are scrutinizing Ms. White ahead of her Senate confirmation hearing, raising questions about the former prosecutor’s lack of regulatory experience and the challenge of policing Wall Street firms she recently defended in private practice. But Ms. White is seeking...

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India Ink: Image of the Day: Feb. 26

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Experts: Pistorius violated basic firearms rules

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Even if Oscar Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star athlete violated basic gun-handling regulations and exposed himself to a homicide charge by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it.Particularly jarring for firearms instructors and legal experts is that Pistorius testified...

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Recipes for Health: Roasted Carrots and Scallions — Recipes for Health

Andrew Scrivani for The New York TimesI bought incredibly sweet, thick red scallions and multicolored bunches of carrots from a farmer at my market and roasted them with fresh thyme. Then I sprinkled on some crushed toasted hazelnuts, which contributed a nice crunchy texture and nutty finish to the dish. If you have a bottle of hazelnut oil or walnut oil on hand, a small drizzle just before serving...

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Wall Street Sheds Morning Gains

After beginning the day with a partial rebound from Monday’s steep drop, stocks on Wall Street gave up some of their gains Tuesday in the course of Congressional testimony by Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman. In afternoon trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 0.1 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite index...

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