With E.C.B. in Spotlight, Bundesbank Finds Itself in the Shadows

Mustafah Abdulaziz for The New York TimesThe Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, built in 1967 in Frankfurt. FRANKFURT — The exposed-concrete slab of the Bundesbank headquarters stands like a bulwark outside the downtown financial district here, a stolid, Brutalist structure that in its sheer mass evokes not just the German central bank’s stubborn resistance to change but, above all, its obsessive...

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Google+ app for Android updated with new photo-sharing features, emoticons, GIFs and more

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Jeff Probst Shares His Thoughts on Who Could Win Survivor

TV Watch Survivor By Steve Helling 12/15/2012 at 04:10 PM EST Jeff Probst ;Malcolm Freberg Lisa Whelchel Denise Stapley Mike Skupin Monty Brinton/CBS(5) In the 25 seasons that Jeff Probst has hosted Survivor, he has presided over 399 tribal councils. Since the show's...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Holiday "on standby" as clock ticks on cliff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the "fiscal cliff." Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff - nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown...

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Panetta Orders Deployment of U.S. Antimissile Units in Turkey

Manu Brabo/Associated PressAn injured woman was taken to a hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on Friday. INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta signed an official deployment order on Friday to send 400 American military personnel and two Patriot air defense batteries to Turkey as its tensions intensify with neighboring Syria, where government forces have increasingly...

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Sony’s PlayStation 4 could lose to the next Xbox before it’s even released

I love all game consoles equally. My Xbox 360 is used equally as much as my PlayStation 3. The Wii — oh, I’ll just leave it at that. The current generation of consoles is all but over — 10-year life cycle be damned — and new consoles are rumored to be coming next fall. If not next fall, then in 2014. Whatever is the case, Sony (SNE) can’t afford to lag in third place again. Sure, the Xbox...

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Let's Talk About Kristen Stewart's Sheer Dress, Shall We?

Stylewatch Style News Now 12/14/2012 at 02:00 PM ET Michael N. Todaro/FilmMagic (3); FameFlynetSo kudos to Kristen Stewart for having an amazing body and a stylist who helps her take risks. She’s gone a little out of the box on her...

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Wall Street succumbs to Apple's fall, "cliff" uncertainty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday as another slide in Apple took a toll and investors unloaded some shares because of the uncertainty surrounding the "fiscal cliff" negotiations. For the Nasdaq, this marked the second losing week in a row. All three major U.S. stock indexes ended the week slightly lower. Apple's stock slid 3.8 percent to $509.79 after UBS cut its...

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Chávez Experiences Complications From Cancer Surgery

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela experienced complications related to his cancer surgery, resulting in bleeding that required “corrective measures,” but his vital signs were returning to normal and he was showing signs of recovery, a government official said Thursday. The surgery, which lasted more than six hours, was done in Havana on Tuesday. Ernesto Villegas, Mr....

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Verizon Offering $5 Shared 4G Plan for Samsung Galaxy Camera

Imagine the powerful Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone, except that it can’t make phone calls and its backplate has been replaced by a digital camera — handgrip, zoom lens, and all. That’s basically the Samsung Galaxy Camera in a nutshell, and whether it’s a small, awkwardly-shaped Android tablet or a digital camera that you can play Modern Combat 3 on depends on how you look at it.When the Galaxy Camera...

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Katie Stagliano Feeds the Hungry Through Her Gardening Nonprofit

Heroes Among Us By Moira Bailey and Diane Herbst 12/13/2012 at 04:20 PM EST Ever since she was a little girl, Katie Stagliano knew how to make things grow.Four years ago, Katie planted the seedling for a 40-pound cabbage that would end up making meals for hundreds of hungry people in her Summerville, S.C., community....

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Study: People worldwide living longer, but sicker

LONDON (AP) — Nearly everywhere around the world, people are living longer and fewer children are dying. But increasingly, people are grappling with the diseases and disabilities of modern life, according to the most expansive global look so far at life expectancy and the biggest health threats.The last comprehensive study was in 1990 and the top health problem then was the death of children under...

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S&P 500 ends six days of gains on "cliff" worries

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended its six-day winning streak on Thursday, retreating as worries intensified that Washington's "fiscal cliff" negotiations were dragging on with little progress. Anxiety about the drawn-out talks between Democrats and Republicans was enough to offset encouraging data on retail sales and jobless claims on Thursday. There is concern that...

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Assad Fires Scud Missiles at Rebels, U.S. Says, Escalating War in Syria

Narciso Contreras/Associated PressFree Syrian Army fighters with two bodies they found in the rubble during clashes with government forces in Aleppo on Monday. WASHINGTON — Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebel fighters in recent days, Obama administration officials said on Wednesday.  The move represents a significant escalation in the fighting,...

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Pope Benedict XVI Joins Twitter

By Julia Haskins 12/12/2012 at 04:05 PM EST Pope Benedict XVI Tweeting Splash News Online The Vatican just got considerably more social media savvy. Pope Benedict XVI sent out his first Tweet on Wednesday using the handle @Pontifex (loosely translated from Latin...

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Wall Street ends nearly flat as Bernanke warns on "cliff"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks ended nearly flat on Wednesday, giving up most of the day's gains after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that monetary policy won't be enough to offset damage from the "fiscal cliff." His comments followed the Federal Reserve's announcement of a new stimulus plan, which briefly pushed the S&P 500 to a seven-week high. The plan, the latest...

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Congress examines science behind HGH test for NFL

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee has opened a hearing to examine the science behind a human growth hormone test the NFL wants to start using on its players.Nearly two full seasons have passed since the league and the players' union signed a labor deal that set the stage for HGH testing.The NFL Players Association won't concede the validity of a test that's used by Olympic sports and Major...

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The Female Factor: Hillary Dominates 2016 Chatter in Washington

NEW YORK — Even before President Barack Obama’s Election Day victory last month, one name kept popping up in political circles, cable news programs, blogs, opinion columns and newspaper articles: Hillary Clinton — Hillary Clinton in 2016. Speculation about Mrs. Clinton’s presidential prospects is feeding political talk in Washington’s power centers, in global capitals, and among American...

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Obama election tweet most repeated but Olympics tops on Twitter

(Reuters) – An election victory tweet from President Barack Obama — “Four more years” with a picture of him hugging his wife — was the most retweeted ever, but the U.S. election was topped by the Olympics as the most tweeted event this year.Obama’s tweet was retweeted (repeated) more than 810,000 times, Twitter said as it published a list of the most tweeted events in 2012. (http://2012.twitter.com/)“Within...

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PHOTO: Sheryl Crow and Son Splash Down

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 12/11/2012 at 04:00 PM ET Water baby! Sheryl Crow takes elder son Wyatt Steven, 5½, for a spin on a jet-ski while vacationing in the Bahamas on Tuesday. The musician, 50, is also mom to son Levi James, 2½.Crow is currently taking a break from working on her new record...

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APNewsBreak: DA investigating Texas cancer agency

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas prosecutor responsible for investigating public corruption among state officials said Tuesday that he has opened an investigation into the state's troubled $3 billion cancer-fighting agency.Gregg Cox, director of the Travis County district attorney's public integrity unit, told The Associated Press that an investigation has begun into the Cancer Prevention and Research...

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Big tech boosts S&P 500 to best close since election

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Tuesday, led by gains in technology companies, helping the S&P 500 end at its highest level since Election Day. A 2.2 percent gain to $541.39 in Apple's stock lifted the Nasdaq, as the largest U.S. company by market value rebounded from a week in which investors took profits before a possible tax rise next year. Prior to Tuesday's trading, Apple...

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Gunmen Assassinate Afghan Women’s Affairs Official

KABUL, Afghanistan — The acting head of women’s affairs in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan was shot to death in broad daylight on Monday as she was traveling to work. Khalid Khan/Associated PressA funeral for Najia Sediqi, the acting head of women’s affairs in Laghman Province, who was killed by gunmen on Monday. Aref Karimi/Agence France-Presse...

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