E.U. May ‘Unravel’ if U.K. Quits, Official Says

LONDON — Almost 40 years after Britain joined the forerunner of today’s European Union, the debate over the country’s future in the Union has quickened with a warning from a top E.U. official that any moves to renegotiate the terms of British membership could wreck the bloc. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, the body that groups the 27 E.U. member states, said that the...

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The Boy Genius Report: The Wii U is the Nintendo’s last console

I remember it still — people flipped out about the Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii. Yes, its name was mocked for a while, but there was genuine excitement around what Nintendo was doing with motion and the entire gameplay experience. While the original Nintendo Wii was almost an Apple (AAPL)-like product — Nintendo focused on the gameplay and not on specs; the company didn’t even have HD graphics when every...

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NHL makes new offer; lockout enters critical stage

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL made a new offer to the players' association, hoping to spark talks toward ending the long lockout and saving the hockey season.Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Friday the league presented its proposal Thursday and was waiting for a response. The sides haven't met in person since a second round of talks with a federal mediator broke down Dec. 13.The lockout has reached its...

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Surgery Returns to NYU Langone Medical Center

Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesSenator Charles E. Schumer spoke at a news conference Thursday about the reopening of NYU Langone Medical Center. NYU Langone Medical Center opened its doors to surgical patients on Thursday, almost two months after Hurricane Sandy overflowed the banks of the East River and forced the evacuation of hundreds of patients. While the medical center had been treating...

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China Toughens Restrictions on Internet Use

HONG KONG — The Chinese government issued new rules on Friday requiring Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning Internet companies greater responsibility for deleting forbidden postings and reporting them to the authorities. The decision came as government censors have sharply stepped up restrictions on China’s international Internet traffic in recent...

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Iran’s Only Female Cabinet Minister Dismissed

Iran’s president on Thursday dismissed his health minister, the only woman to serve in the cabinet since the 1979 Islamic revolution, after she publicly criticized the government’s response to acute shortages of medicine imports, an indirect consequence of the Western sanctions imposed on the country. Accounts in the state-run news media of the dismissal of the minister, Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi,...

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Apple CEO’s pay takes big hit vs. record 2011 package

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook’s 2012 compensation package of just over $ 4 million is a huge cut on paper for the top executive of the most valuable U.S. corporation, after a 2011 package fattened by more than $ 376 million in long-term stock awards.Cook received the largest single pay package awarded to a company CEO in about a decade when he replaced Apple‘s legendary co-founder, Steve...

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Net loss: Brooklyn fires coach Avery Johnson

NEW YORK (AP) — Avery Johnson was fired Thursday as coach of the Brooklyn Nets, who have fallen to .500 in their season of new surroundings and elevated expectations.General manager Billy King announced the dismissal in a statement. Assistant P.J. Carlesimo will coach the Nets at home Friday against Charlotte, according to someone with knowledge of the plans. The person spoke on condition of anonymity...

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Measles: Measles Epidemic Is Spreading in Central Africa

Jehad Nga for The New York TimesAn internally displaced persons camp in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition to recent violence in the country, a spreading measles epidemic is further endangering the lives of thousands of children there. A large measles epidemic is spreading in Central Africa, endangering the lives of thousands of children, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders...

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Senate Leader Says Deal Is Unlikely Before Fiscal Deadline

WASHINGTON — Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, warned Thursday that there was scant time to put together a Congressional deal to avert the impending fiscal crisis and that no resolution was in sight. T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York TimesSenator Harry Reid arrived at the Capitol on Thursday in Washington. “I have to be very honest,” Mr....

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United Arab Emirates Arrests Suspects in Terror Plots

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) — Security forces in the United Arab Emirates have arrested members of a cell made up of militants from Saudi Arabia and the emirates who were planning to carry out attacks in both countries and in other states, the official Emirates News Agency said on Wednesday. The federation of seven emirates, a major oil exporter and an ally of the United States,...

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Netflix blames Amazon for Christmas Eve outage

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An outage at one of Amazon‘s web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc‘s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas Day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and...

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Red Sox get All-Star closer Hanrahan from Pirates

BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox have acquired All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a six-player deal.Boston completed the trade Wednesday, also receiving infielder Brock Holt. The Red Sox gave up right-handers Mark Melancon and Stolmy Pimentel, infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. and first baseman-outfielder Jerry Sands.Over the past two seasons, the right-handed Hanrahan had 76 saves, fourth...

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Well: Exercise and the Ever-Smarter Human Brain

Anyone whose resolve to exercise in 2013 is a bit shaky might want to consider an emerging scientific view of human evolution. It suggests that we are clever today in part because a million years ago, we could outrun and outwalk most other mammals over long distances. Our brains were shaped and sharpened by movement, the idea goes, and we continue to require regular physical activity in order for...

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Irish Travelers, Gathering for Christmas, Flood a Town

RATHKEALE, Ireland — Christmas in Ireland is a time of homecomings, with joyous family reunions at airports and ferry piers. But the largest single gathering of all briefly turns this little town into the only place in Ireland where armed police officers patrol the streets 24 hours a day to deter internecine feuds and other disorderly conduct. Usually, Rathkeale is an unremarkable rural town...

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Rondo leads Celtics past Nets 93-76

NEW YORK (AP) — Rajon Rondo scored 19 points in his first full game against Brooklyn this season, and the Boston Celtics beat the Nets 93-76 on Tuesday in another game with some heated moments between the division rivals.Rondo, sidelined in the first meeting and thrown out of the second after shoving Nets forward Kris Humphries into the courtside seats, outplayed counterpart Deron Williams and helped...

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Chicken Farms Try Oregano as Antibiotic Substitute

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York TimesBell & Evans' chickens at a farm in Pennsylvania. Products at Bell & Evans have long been free of antibiotics, contributing to the company’s financial success as consumers have demanded purer foods. FREDERICKSBURG, Pa. — The smell of oregano wafting from Scott Sechler’s office is so strong that anyone visiting Bell & Evans these days could be forgiven...

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U.S. Civilian Is Killed at Police Headquarters in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan — A female police sergeant shot and killed an American civilian adviser at police headquarters in Kabul on Monday, Afghan police officials said, breaking a relative lull in the so-called insider killings that have strained the relationship between Americans and Afghans here. The American victim was identified as Joseph Griffin, 49, of Mansfield, Ga., who had worked for...

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Fifth-gen iPad reportedly due in March along with Retina iPad mini

Rumors that a second-generation iPad mini with a Retina display is set to launch ahead of Apple’s typical annual schedule next year have been swirling, and now it appears Apple’s (AAPL) full-size iPad may be sticking to its new semiannual release schedule. According to a report from Japanese blog Makotakra that cites an anonymous “inside source,” Apple plans to launch a new thinner, lighter 9.7-inch...

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Pagano back to coach Colts after cancer treatment

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chuck Pagano was so eager to get back to work Monday, he was the first one to show up at team headquarters.Long before meeting with his players, the Colts first-year coach drove quietly into the complex, walked into the office where the lights have remained on for nearly three months and began preparing for Sunday's game against AFC South champion Houston like it was another at...

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Books: From Bang to Whimper: A Heart Drug’s Story

On June 23, 2005, American medicine managed to take a small step forward and a giant step backward at precisely the same time, with government approval of the first medication to be earmarked for a specific racial group. It was BiDil, a drug designed to treat heart failure in blacks. Enthusiasts hailed BiDil’s approval by the Food and Drug Administration as a landmark event in the nascent...

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Syrian Airstrikes Reportedly Kill Dozens at Bakery

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Syrian warplane was reported to have conducted airstrikes that killed dozens of people lined up for bread at a bakery in the central town of Hilfaya, according to antigovernment activists in the area. The attack, and its toll, could not immediately be confirmed. Samer, a local activist in the town, said he ran to the bakery soon after he heard a warplane, followed by bomb...

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