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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Syria Willing to Talk With Armed Opponents, Foreign Minister Says

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria’s government is willing to hold talks with members of the armed opposition on ending the country’s nearly two-year-old civil war, the Syrian foreign minister said on Monday. It was the first time that a high-ranking Syrian official signaled that the government was open to talking with Syrian rebels who have taken up weapons against the armed forces. Syria’s president,...

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The Onion apologizes for offensive actress tweet

NEW YORK (AP) — The Onion is apologizing for calling the 9-year-old star of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" a vulgar and offensive name on Twitter, an attack that led to a firestorm online.The satirical newspaper on Sunday referred to Quvenzhane Wallis with an expletive intended to denigrate women. The Onion was lambasted overnight and asked for forgiveness Monday."It was crude and offensive — not to...

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Well: Ask Well: The Nutrients in Fruits and Veggies

The colorful skin of an apple, grape or tomato is certainly chockfull of nutrients. But by no means are the outer layers of most fruits and vegetables the prime source of their nutrition.Part of what makes some fruits and vegetables so rich with color – wax and pesticides notwithstanding – are pigments in the skin that have healthful antioxidant properties. Resveratrol, for example, is found in the...

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DealBook: Japan to Sell $10 Billion Stake in Cigarette Firm

TOKYO – The Japanese government is set to loosen its grip on Japan Tobacco, the world’s third-largest tobacco company, by selling a third of its stake in a sale that will net the country about $10 billion.The Finance Ministry, which owns just over 50 percent of the former state monopoly, will sell 333 million of its shares in the cigarette manufacturer, according to a company statement issued on Monday.The...

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African Nations and U.N. Offer Plan to Stabilize Congo

NAIROBI, Kenya — Leaders of several African countries and United Nations officials on Sunday announced a new “framework” to tackle instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a war-torn country that has become synonymous with suffering and has eluded countless attempts to build a lasting peace over the years. The new effort calls for greater cooperation between Congo’s neighbors — several...

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Analysis: The near impossible battle against hackers everywhere

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dire warnings from Washington about a "cyber Pearl Harbor" envision a single surprise strike from a formidable enemy that could destroy power plants nationwide, disable the financial system or cripple the U.S. government. But those on the front lines say it isn't all about protecting U.S. government and corporate networks from a single sudden attack. They report...

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The Texas Tribune: Advocates Seek Mental Health Changes, Including Power to Detain

Matt Rainwaters for Texas MonthlyThe Sherman grave of Andre Thomas’s victims. SHERMAN — A worried call from his daughter’s boyfriend sent Paul Boren rushing to her apartment on the morning of March 27, 2004. He drove the eight blocks to her apartment, peering into his neighbors’ yards, searching for Andre Thomas, Laura Boren’s estranged husband. Expanded coverage of Texas is produced by...

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Major Banks Aid in Payday Loans Banned by States

Major banks have quickly become behind-the-scenes allies of Internet-based payday lenders that offer short-term loans with interest rates sometimes exceeding 500 percent. With 15 states banning payday loans, a growing number of the lenders have set up online operations in more hospitable states or far-flung locales like Belize, Malta and the West Indies to more easily evade statewide caps...

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Emory University President Revives Racial Concerns

ATLANTA — A reception Friday at Emory University to celebrate the work of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the years after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could have been more poorly timed, but not by much. All week long, the president of Emory, James W. Wagner, had been trying to rewind a column that he had written for the university magazine. In it,...

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