China's smog taints economy, health

BEIJING — When a thick quilt of smog enveloped swaths of China earlier this month, it set in motion a costly chain reaction...

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4 tips for creating a successful Twitter parody account

The guy behind @GowanusDolphin learned his lesson the hard wayA chorus of Twitter elite got really angry on Friday when an opportunistic user decided to register @GowanusDolphin, a horrible account that premised itself on a dolphin trapped in New York‘s murky Gowanus Canal. Not sure how I feel about parody account @gowanusdolphin. Poor guy. Don’t find funny at all.SEE MORE: Connecticut...

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Kutcher takes on tech idol Steve Jobs in 'jOBS'

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Ashton Kutcher says playing Steve Jobs on screen "was honestly one of the most terrifying things I've ever tried to do in my life."The 34-year-old actor helped premiere the biopic "jOBS" Friday, which was the closing-night film at the Sundance Film Festival.Kutcher plays the Apple Inc. founder from the company's humble origins in the 1970s until the launch of the first iPod...

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Diner’s Journal Blog: PepsiCo Will Halt Use of Additive in Gatorade

PepsiCo announced on Friday that it would no longer use an ingredient in Gatorade after consumers complained.The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, which was used in citrus versions of the sports drink to prevent the flavorings from separating, was the object of a petition started on Change.org by Sarah Kavanagh, a 15-year-old from Hattiesburg, Miss., who became concerned about the ingredient after...

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China's smog taints economy, health

BEIJING — When a thick quilt of smog enveloped swaths of China earlier this month, it set in motion a costly chain reaction...

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Obama to name new White House chief of staff

President Barack Obama has chosen trusted adviser and national...

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Al Shabaab says enemies closed its Twitter account

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Al Shabaab on Friday said its Christian enemies had closed its Twitter account, which the Somali militant group used to parade hostages, mock rivals and claim responsibility for bombings and assassinations.The group’s official Twitter account, which has thousands of followers, was offline on Friday with a message saying “Sorry, that user is suspended”.It was not immediately clear...

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Damon 'hijacks' Kimmel's ABC show

NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Damon had his revenge.The butt of a long-running joke on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the actor opened Thursday night's show as a kidnapper who tied Kimmel to a chair with duct tape and gagged him with his own tie."There's a new host in town and his initials are M.D.," Damon said. "That's right, the doctor is in."For years, Kimmel has joked at the end of his show that he ran out...

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Well: Ask Well: Squats for Aging Knees

You are already doing many things right, in terms of taking care of your aging knees. In particular, it sounds as if you are keeping your weight under control. Carrying extra pounds undoubtedly strains knees and contributes to pain and eventually arthritis.You mention weight training, too, which is also valuable. Sturdy leg muscles, particularly those at the front and back of the thighs, stabilize...

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Stocks gain, boosted by P&G, Starbucks earnings

Stocks opened higher on Wall Street after Procter & Gamble...

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Kerry pledges as secretary of State to highlight the good America does

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Samsung’s iPad mini rival, the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, revealed in leaked images

While Samsung (005930) has had tremendous success over the past year with its Galaxy brand of smartphones, the company hasn’t been able to generated the same amount of buzz for its Galaxy tablet line just yet. But now SamMobile points us to the first leaked pictures of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 8.0 that the company hopes will become its flagship tablet in 2013. The pictures, posted on Italian website...

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Joe McGinniss has cancer, but feels 'terrific'

NEW YORK (AP) — Author-journalist Joe McGinniss says he was diagnosed in May with advanced prostate cancer but is responding well to treatment and feels "terrific."The 70-year-old McGinniss is best known for controversial works such as "The Selling of the President" and "Fatal Vision." On Wednesday, he posted on his Facebook page that he had "inoperable, terminal, metastatic prostate cancer." He confirmed...

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Well: Can You Read the Face of Victory?

Picture a tennis player in the moment he scores a critical point and wins a tournament. Now picture his opponent in the instant he loses the point that narrowly cost him the title. Can you tell one facial expression from the other, the look of defeat from the face of victory?Try your hand at the images below, of professional tennis players at competitive tournaments. All were included in a new study...

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Apple shares tumble after relatively unimpressive earnings report

Apple Inc. may still make products customers love, but its latest earnings report appears to have broken investors' hearts.For...

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Clinton takes responsibility for Benghazi failures

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, facing tough questions from Senate Republicans on the deadly Sept....

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Google Earnings Reveal Beginnings of a Facebook Problem on Search Revenue

Google beat Wall Street expectations with its fourth-quarter revenues of $ 14.42 billion, but the value of its ads continue to decline, an especially tricky problem with the company’s new search competition from Facebook. Google’s average cost-per-click decreased 6 percent from one year ago, meaning each ad it runs on its biggest business has less value than it did a year ago, continuing a fairly...

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'Mad Men' to return for new season on April 7

NEW YORK (AP) — AMC says "Mad Men" will return for its new season on April 7.AMC announced Wednesday that the two-hour premiere kicks off the acclaimed drama series' sixth season. The episode was written by "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner."Mad Men" is set in the advertising world of circa-1960s New York City and stars Jon Hamm as agency exec Don Draper. Other stars include January Jones, Elisabeth...

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Well: Have a Health Question? Ask Well

The Well section of The New York Times is starting a new online featured called Ask Well. If you have a question about fitness, nutrition, illness or family health, the staff of The New York Times Health section is ready to help you find the answer.How do you solve the problem of back pain caused by sitting in an office chair all day? Do you still need the flu shot even if you’ve had the flu? What’s...

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Google may be dropping 'X Phone' hints

As rumors about the expected Motorola "X Phone" swirl around the Web, Google may have been hinting at some of the phone's features...

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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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Canada wants RIM organic growth, may have to review handset sale

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian government wants BlackBerry maker Research in Motion to continue to be a global leader and grow organically, and Ottawa may have to review a future sale of its handset business, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said on Tuesday.“We hope to see RIM remain a global leader and player, and make sure it grows organically,” Paradis told Reuters by phone from Germany, where...

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Mariel Hemingway runs from crazy at Sundance

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Mariel Hemingway says she has left the bad kind of crazy behind, and all that's left is good crazy.Hemingway came to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah for the documentary "Running from Crazy," which chronicles the family history of mental illness that led to the suicides of seven relatives, including sister Margaux and grandfather Ernest Hemingway.Directed by Barbara Kopple,...

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Well: The Appetite Workout

Every January, many people start working out, hoping to lose weight. But as studies attest, exercise often produces little or no weight loss — and even weight gain — and resolutions are soon abandoned. But new science suggests that if you stick with the right kind of exercise, you may change how your body interacts with food. It’s more than a matter of burning calories; exercise also affects hormones.A...

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Toyota Prius topples Honda Civic as bestselling car in California

Toyotas Prius has toppled the Honda Civic from its two-year reign as the bestselling vehicle in California.It was a thin margin....

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