Email hacker reveals Bush family photos, addresses

(Reuters) – The Secret Service is investigating the hacking of email accounts belonging to members of the Bush family that divulged correspondence, addresses, phone numbers and a picture of a self-portrait painted by former President George W. Bush standing in a shower.A report on the Smoking Gun website, said the pilfered emails provided a rare glimpse into the private lives of one of America’s most...

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Venezuela, Despite Myriad Problems, Seizes On a Hat

Carlos Garcia Rawlins/ReutersVice President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela wore a patriotic cap to a parade Monday in Caracas. CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela seems to lurch from one crisis to another. President Hugo Chávez has virtually disappeared since going to Cuba for cancer surgery more than eight weeks ago. Last month, 58 people were killed in a prison when inmates clashed with soldiers. Inflation...

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Wisconsin beats No. 3 Michigan 65-62 in OT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When Ben Brust tied the game at the end of regulation with a shot just from just inside midcourt, his teammate Mike Bruesewitz looked over at Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and saw something unusual.His coach had both his arms in the air."You know when he shows some emotion, you've done something pretty special," Bruesewitz said.Brust hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with less than 40 seconds...

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In Nigeria, Polio Vaccine Workers Are Killed by Gunmen

At least nine polio immunization workers were shot to death in northern Nigeria on Friday by gunmen who attacked two clinics, officials said. The killings, with eerie echoes of attacks that killed nine female polio workers in Pakistan in December, represented another serious setback for the global effort to eradicate polio. Most of the victims were women and were shot in the back of...

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Degrees of Debt: College Costs, Battled a Paycheck at a Time

If Steve Boedefeld graduates from Appalachian State University without any student loan debt, it will be because of the money he earned fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and the money he now saves by eating what he grows or kills. Zack Tolmie managed to escape New York University with no debt — and a degree — by landing a job at Bubby’s, the brunch institution in TriBeCa, where he made...

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Dell’s largest investor opposes buyout as too low

(Reuters) – Dell Inc’s largest independent shareholder Southeastern Asset Management said it plans to oppose the buyout of the personal computer maker, setting up a battle for founder Michael Dell who is leading the effort to operate the company away from public scrutiny.Southeastern sent a letter to Dell’s board expressing its “extreme disappointment” in the offer price of $ 13.65 a share, it said...

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European Union Leaders Agree to Slimmer Budget

BRUSSELS — As European Union leaders began their 14th hour of budget negotiations after a sleepless night, Valdis Dombrovskis, the prime minister of Latvia, took the floor early Friday to address what, for his Baltic nation of around just two million people, is a vital question: Why should a Latvian cow deserve less money than a French, Dutch and even Romanian one? In a system that requires...

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AP Source: Hernandez on verge of new deal with M's

SEATTLE (AP) — Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners are working on a $175 million, seven-year contract that would make him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball, according to a person with knowledge of the deal's details.The person spoke to The Associated Press Thursday on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been completed. USA Today first reported the deal.Seattle would add $134.5...

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Well: Think Like a Doctor: A Confused and Terrified Patient

The Challenge: Can you solve the mystery of a middle-aged man recovering from a serious illness who suddenly becomes frightened and confused?Every month the Diagnosis column of The New York Times Magazine asks Well readers to sift through a difficult case and solve a diagnostic riddle. Below you will find a summary of a case involving a 55-year-old man well on his way to recovering from a series of...

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European Union Leaders Agree to Slimmer Budget

BRUSSELS — As European Union leaders began their 14th hour of budget negotiations after a sleepless night, Valdis Dombrovskis, the prime minister of Latvia, took the floor early Friday to address what, for his Baltic nation of around just two million people, is a vital question: Why should a Latvian cow deserve less money than a French, Dutch and even Romanian one? In a system that requires...

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TSX ends lower as ECB comments weigh; BlackBerry up

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada‘s main stock index closed slightly lower on Thursday as a wave of negative sentiment after the European Central Bank warned about weak euro zone economies pulled down energy and financial shares, offsetting a rise in BlackBerry .The Toronto Stock Exchange‘s S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> unofficially ended down 5.67 points, or 0.04 percent, at 12,755.92. Four...

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IHT Rendezvous: Baron Von Fancy Goes to Paris

PARIS—Baron Von Fancy’s name may belong in an 18th-century German royal court, but he is very much a 20th-century child. He’s a multimedia artist who lives in New York and surfs on the vintage-is-cool wave, using social media as his manager, agent and public relations firm.His latest exhibition, “A Thing Called Love,” opened on Monday at the Paris Colette shop, a European mecca of all things fashionable,...

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Armstrong sued for $12 million bonus

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Dallas promotions company sued Lance Armstrong on Thursday, demanding he repay $12 million in bonuses and fees it paid him for winning the Tour de France.SCA Promotions had tried in a 2005 legal dispute over the bonuses to prove Armstrong cheated to win before it ultimately settled and paid him.Armstrong recently acknowledged using performance-enhancing drugs after the U.S....

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Well: The 'Monday Morning' Medical Screaming Match

I did not think I would ever see another “morbidity and mortality” conference in which senior doctors publicly attacked their younger colleagues for making medical errors. These types of heated meetings were commonplace when I was a medical student but have largely been abandoned.Yet here they were again on “Monday Mornings,” a new medical drama on the TNT network, based on a novel by Dr. Sanjay Gupta,...

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DealBook: Einhorn Sues Apple Over Plan to Discard Preferred Stock

11:41 a.m. | Updated The hedge fund magnate David Einhorn has long been known as a fervent fan of Apple. But he is making an unusually public stand to oppose a move by the company: a lawsuit.His hedge fund, Greenlight Capital, sued Apple on Thursday in an effort to block a move that would eliminate preferred shares. In a letter to fellow stockholders, Mr. Einhorn said the move to amend the company’s...

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Exclusive: Microsoft and Symantec disrupt cyber crime ring

BOSTON (Reuters) – Software makers Microsoft Corp and Symantec Corp said they disrupted a global cyber crime operation by shutting down servers that controlled hundreds of thousands of PCs without the knowledge of their users.The move made it temporarily impossible for infected PCs around the world to search the web, though the companies offered free tools to clean machines through messages that were...

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IHT Special: Syria's Kurds Try to Balance Security and Alliances

ERBIL, IRAQ — Syria’s Kurds have mostly escaped prolonged bouts of direct conflict in the country’s civil war, but with rebel units pushing east toward the resource-rich Kurdish heartland, Kurdish militias proliferating and calls for greater autonomy growing, this may not remain the case. Last summer, the Democratic Union Party, known by its Kurdish-language acronym P.Y.D., seized control...

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Braun says he used Fla clinic owner as consultant

NEW YORK (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun said the person who ran the Florida clinic being investigated by Major League Baseball was used only as a consultant on his drug suspension appeal last year."I have nothing to hide," Braun said in a statement released by his representatives on Tuesday night.Earlier in the day, Yahoo Sports reported the 2011 NL MVP's name showed up three times in...

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Personal Health: Effective Addiction Treatment

Countless people addicted to drugs, alcohol or both have managed to get clean and stay clean with the help of organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous or the thousands of residential and outpatient clinics devoted to treating addiction.But if you have failed one or more times to achieve lasting sobriety after rehab, perhaps after spending tens of thousands of dollars, you’re not alone. And chances...

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Trade Group Lawsuit Challenges Olive Oil Labeling

The North American Olive Oil Association, a trade group that represents the olive oil business in the United States and Canada, is suing Kangadis Food, saying that it falsely labeled its Capatriti brand as olive oil when the product is a fat from leftover olive skins and pits. That fat, known as olive pomace oil or olive residue oil, is extracted using high heat and chemical solvents...

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