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Helen of Troy has suggested it would return money to investors, but it wasn’t interested in selling itself, despite calls from an activist investor.
At polls, Tokyo rejects a plan for curbing nuclear power
TOKYO — Tokyo voters chose the governing party candidate to be their next governor Sunday, rejecting a former prime minister who had tried to turn the local election into a public referendum on the future of nuclear energy in Japan.
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WASHINGTON — The House will vote Wednesday to extend the government’s borrowing authority into 2015 in exchange for reversing a cut to the pensions of working-age military veterans that Congress approved just two months ago to try to trim the budget deficit.
Farm Bureau report finds need for immigration overhaul
WASHINGTON — Immigration reform that focuses solely on enforcement would cut agriculture production and cause a sharp rise in food prices, according to a new study released Monday.
Talks on Syrian conflict resume in Geneva
GENEVA — As fighting raged unabated in Syria, government and opposition representatives met in Geneva on Monday for a second round of peace negotiations in hopes of moving away from the inconclusive and often fractious exchanges in the first round that ended 10 days ago.
Today, tomorrow will be better for opening doors
We have now entered the frozen heart of winter, where freezing is more frequently a daily high than a daily low. Unlike many days of the previous week, however, no extra snow shall fall until the day after tomorrow, so for these two days, the winter invites you out if you want to build a snowman. Still remember to dress appropriately, as highs will be in the twenties.
North Korea balks again at bid to free American
SEOUL, South Korea — For a second time, North Korea has rescinded an invitation for a special U.S. envoy to visit Pyongyang, the capital, to seek the release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American Christian missionary held in the country for more than a year, the U.S. State Department said Sunday.
Michael Sam may become the first publicly gay player in the NFL
Coaches at the University of Missouri divided players into small groups at a preseason football practice last year for a team-building exercise. One by one, players were asked to talk about themselves.
Trial brings new scrutiny of self-defense laws
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nearly seven months after a jury acquitted George Zimmerman, whose shooting of an unarmed black teenager made him synonymous with Florida’s so-called Stand Your Ground law, the state’s latest drama involving a fatal burst of gunfire and a claim of self-defense began to play out Thursday in a courtroom here.
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Twitter’s stock plunged Thursday, dropping 24 percent to close at $50.05 a share, after a fourth-quarter earnings report Wednesday showed significant declines in usage and a slowdown in the growth of the new users.
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KIEV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian protest leader who vanished for a week and then emerged from a forest late last month saying he had been “crucified” gave his first full account of his ordeal on Thursday.
US issues penalties over violations of Iran sanctions
The Obama administration penalized nearly three dozen companies and individuals in eight countries Thursday, accusing them of evading sanctions on doing business with Iran.
Senate fails to pass three-month extension of jobless aid
WASHINGTON — The Senate failed to move forward on a three-month extension of assistance for the long-term unemployed Thursday, leaving it unlikely that Congress would approve the measure soon while undercutting a key aspect of President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan.
Behind retreat on immigration, a complicated political interplay
WASHINGTON — House Speaker John A. Boehner would sorely like to help engineer an overhaul of immigration policy to bolster his legacy, help his party politically and address a difficult social and economic problem. He just cannot seem to persuade other Republicans, who see the immigration debate as a major threat to their drive to win the Senate and increase their House majority in November.
UN says that Syria must quicken chemical arms purge
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. diplomat coordinating the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria said Thursday that the government of President Bashar Assad needed to “pick up the pace,” but she stopped short of blaming the Syrian authorities for the missed deadlines in exporting the most deadly chemical materials.
Potentially huge snowstorm unlikely
If you have been reading weather articles this week, you might have seen some alarming possibilities for a major Nor’easter this Sunday. Two low pressure systems might have collided and moved up the coast of the Eastern US, picking up moisture from the ocean and blanketing populations centers with more snow. Fortunately, updated model outputs suggest that the more southern system will track harmlessly into the Atlantic ocean, leaving only a weaker low pressure system that may bring snow showers on Sunday. Until then, the daily high and low temperatures in Cambridge will be around 10 degrees F colder than usual, so bundle up!
Video shows Egypt police arresting two journalists
Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.
Former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie invokes Fifth
A former top aide to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey revealed Monday that she would not hand over documents in response to a subpoena from a legislative panel investigating the controversial closing of lanes at the George Washington Bridge last fall, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Genetic tests, healthy children, and ethical doubt
Her first thought after she heard the news was that she would never have children. Amanda Baxley’s doctor had just told her she had the gene for Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, or GSS, which would inevitably lead to her slow and terrible death. This rare neurological disease had stalked her family for generations.
Second U.S. bribery trial begins for New York assemblyman
NEW YORK — In October 2010, William F. Boyland Jr., a state assemblyman from the Brooklyn borough of New York City, shared fine cuts of meat, wine and whiskey with two businessmen who were trying to buy Boyland’s political influence.