IHT Rendezvous: Gallery Stroll: Istanbul

ISTANBUL — Unpredictable weather means winter isn’t the most popular season for visiting Istanbul, but it is a great time for gallery-hopping: Many of the best museums and art spaces in the Beyoglu district have just opened compelling new exhibitions.At Arter, the curator Emre Baykal has gathered mostly new works by Turkish artists to create the second installment of “Envy, Enmity, Embarrassment.”...

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very...

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For the record

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Notre Dame’s Te’o says had no part in forming hoax

Jan 24 (Reuters) – Notre Dame football player Manti Te‘o said he was the victim of an elaborate online hoax and denied in an interview broadcast on Thursday having had any part in the construction of the dramatic story of his dying girlfriend.“No, I did not,” Te’o said in the interview with Katie Couric broadcast on the daytime talk show “Katie.” “I think what people don’t realize is that the same...

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Waiter Michael Garcia Refuses to Serve Man Who Insulted Boy with Down Syndrome

By Dahvi Shira 01/26/2013 at 09:00 AM EST Waiter Michael Garcia made his regular customer Kim Castillo feel like family last week at the Houston restaurant Laurenzo's Prime Rib.Castillo was eating there with her husband and their 5-year-old son Milo when several waiters came by their table to chat. Milo, who...

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Syrian Refugees Entering Jordan in Record Numbers, U.N. Says

GENEVA — Syrians are fleeing into Jordan in record numbers to escape escalating violence and destruction that is making it increasingly difficult for civilians to survive, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday. More than 4,000 Syrians arrived at a camp in Zaatari in northern Jordan on Thursday and another 2,000 people overnight, Melissa Fleming, the spokeswoman for the United Nations...

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

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Palmdale woman accused of torturing her children

Neighbors of a Palmdale woman charged with assaulting and torturing two of her children said Thursday that they never even realized...

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Somalia militants’ Twitter account down after hostage threat

NAIROBI (Reuters) – A Twitter account run by Somali militant group al Shabaab was unavailable on Friday, days after the al Qaeda-aligned rebels used the social media site to boast about killing a French agent and threatened to kill several Kenyan hostages.Al Shabaab often used its Twitter account to claim responsibility for attacks on African Union and Somali government troops, as well as senior officials...

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Vanessa Lachey: How I Told Nick I Was Pregnant

Courtesy of the LacheysAfter their destination wedding on the beaches of Necker Island in 2011, newlyweds Nick and Vanessa Lachey were ready to begin making good on the promise of a brood of babies.But six months into trying to get pregnant, Vanessa was ready to call it quits — at least temporarily — to allow nature to take its course.“Honestly, by mid-December, I resigned myself to the notion that...

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India Ink: India Rape Trial Starts With Renewed Ban on Media Coverage

The trial of five men accused in the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in New Delhi is being watched closely as a symbol of India’s commitment to justice for women, but information about the ongoing court proceedings may be scarce.As court proceedings began Thursday, the presiding judge said  there would be a blanket ban on reporting on the trial. The judge, Yogesh Khanna,  also...

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AP Interview: UN wants better family planning

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The U.N.'s top population official wants governments to do more to ensure that women have access to family planning.The U.N. says the world will add a billion people to its current population of some 7 billion within a decade, further straining the planet's resources.Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, says more than 220 million women in...

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California bills target false 911 calls in 'swatting' cases

SACRAMENTO — Alarmed that pranksters have called 911 to report false emergencies at the homes of celebrities including Justin...

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Sony fined in UK over PlayStation cyberattack

LONDON (AP) — British regulators have fined Sony 250,000 pounds ($ 396,100) for failing to prevent a 2011 cyberattack on its PlayStation Network which put millions of users’ personal information — including names, addresses, birth dates and account passwords — at risk.Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office said Thursday that security measures in place at the time “were simply not good enough.”...

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Style Rx: Julianne Hough’s Almost-There Outfit

Stylewatch Style News Now 01/22/2013 at 06:00 PM ET O’Neill/White/INF Who: Julianne HoughWhere: A visit to Toronto’s Much Music studios to promote her film Safe HavenDiagnosis: We love Hough’s fun approach to fashion, but it’s time...

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IHT Rendezvous: Taiwan's Diverse Literature and History on Show in Two New Museums

TAINAN — Two new museums in Tainan, a city in Taiwan’s south, say much about how the island’s people have worked in recent years to build an unusually inclusive cultural identity, a model for Chinese-speaking societies, as I write in my Letter from Taiwan this week.At the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, founded in 2003, exhibits explore the writing, film and music of indigenous cultures such...

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Foes of NYC soda size limit doubt racial fairness

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents of the city's limit on the size of sugary drinks are raising questions of racial fairness alongside other complaints as the novel restriction faces a court test.The NAACP's New York state branch and the Hispanic Federation have joined beverage makers and sellers in trying to stop the rule from taking effect March 12. With a hearing set Wednesday, critics are attacking what...

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LAPD grapples with responding to possible 'swatting' calls

Los Angeles police are recalibrating their response to some emergency calls in light of a series of prank "swatting" calls reporting...

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Google’s 4Q earnings rise despite Motorola woes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google eked out slightly higher earnings in the fourth quarter, despite a financial drag caused by the Internet search leader’s expansion into device manufacturing and a decline in digital ad prices as more people gaze into the smaller screens of smartphones.The results announced Tuesday pleased investors, helping to lift Google’s stock by 5 percent in extended trading.More advertising...

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Paula Deen: How My Whole Family Got Fit!

By Liza Hamm 01/23/2013 at 07:45 AM EST Paula Deen is the first one to admit: "When I first found out I was diabetic, I had no solutions. I couldn’t even help myself, much less somebody else." Now – one year after she announced her Type 2 diabetes diagnosis to a mix of criticism and support – Deen is not...

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IHT Rendezvous: Oscar Anticipation in the Subtitle Category

PARIS—With the multiple nominations for “Lincoln,” “Django Unchained” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” Europeans may see this year’s Academy Award field as something of a celebration of American history, in the age of Obama.Still, “Amour,” Michael Haneke’s Austrian film shot in France and in French, made it into the best picture category, confirmation that the Academy thinks subtitled films can hold their...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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County official calls car leasing contract procedure 'embarrassing'

Auditors reviewing a $1.75-million car leasing contract given to a company with a politically connected lobbying firm found...

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Cycling-No sympathy for Armstrong on social media

LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Lance Armstrong’s televised doping confession has done nothing to restore his shattered reputation, a study of responses posted to the Twitter social media site showed.“What was particularly noticeable in our analysis of the Armstrong revelation was the sheer lack of sympathy out there,” said Charlie Dundas of sports market research company Repucom.“The tone of the discussion...

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Jennifer Lopez Obsesses Over Peanut Butter Souffle in Miami

Advertisement Vignette StoryServer 6.0 Tue Jan 22 07:29:34 2013 Vignette StoryServer 6.0 Tue Jan 22 06:05:11 2013 ' + ' ' + '' + ''; $(document).ready(function(){ $('#ptvplayer').html(playerhtml); brightcove.createExperiences(); PEOPLE.tv.title = $('#ptvplayer .videoTitle a'); }); PEOPLE.tv.onTemplateLoaded...

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IHT Rendezvous: Obama's Second Term: Not Necessarily Cursed

WASHINGTON — Second-term U.S. presidents encounter political turbulence, their poll ratings plummet as the public sours. Right? Wrong.In my latest Letter from Washington, I lay out who in Washington believes Barack Obama has a chance of actually accomplishing something in his second term and who doesn’t — and why.(Technically, Mr. Obama has already begun his second term. He was sworn in on January...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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