After 'final assault' in Algeria, details are slow to emerge

CAIRO — It was a bloody ordeal with tick-tock drama and a watching world.The hostages at a gas refinery in the Sahara desert...

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Wired Science Space Photo of the Day: Sunset on Mars

On May 19th, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera (Pancam) mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th martian day, or sol. Spirit was commanded to stay awake briefly after sending that sol's data to the Mars Odyssey orbiter just before sunset. This small panorama of...

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Nicks, Fogerty, more join Grohl for Sundance gig

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — As Dave Grohl tool to the stage at the Park City Live, he gave the audience an expletive-laced warning: “It’s going to be a long night.”But fans were rewarded Friday night as Grohl brought out members of the Foo Fighters, ex-bandmates in Nirvana, plus John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Rick Springfield, and several others in a three-hour plus concert that celebrated his directorial...

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Personal Health: That Loving Feeling Takes a Lot of Work

When people fall in love and decide to marry, the expectation is nearly always that love and marriage and the happiness they bring will last; as the vows say, till death do us part. Only the most cynical among us would think, walking down the aisle, that if things don’t work out, “We can always split.”But the divorce rate in the United States is half the marriage rate, and that does not bode well...

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The Boss: New Leaders Inc. C.E.O. on Giving Children a Chance

I AM the youngest of 10 children in my family, and the only one born in the United States. My father was a municipal judge who fled Haiti during the Duvalier regime. He and my mother settled in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, but could not initially afford to bring over my four brothers and five sisters, who stayed in Haiti with relatives. Jean S. Desravines is the chief executive...

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Andrea Alarcon resigns powerful L.A. Board of Public Works post

Los Angeles Board of Public Works President Andrea Alarcon announced Friday that she is resigning from her post, and she apologized...

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Nokia Releases Files for 3-D Printing Your Own Phone Case

Nokia has opened its arms to 3-D printing with the release of printable design files and instructions for making your own Nokia phone case — and customizing it however you wish.The mobile phone giant announced the new endeavor today, which gives Creative Commons-licensed access to the printable files for the Lumia 820′s shell. It’s the largest affirmation of 3-D printing by a major corporation...

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Winfrey’s Armstrong interview seen by 3.2 million

NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey‘s interview with Lance Armstrong is more than an illustration of a hero athlete tumbling from the heights. It’s also a pivotal moment for a famous media figure trying to climb the ladder back up.Winfrey’s OWN network is showing signs of life after a rocky start, and the Armstrong interview offered a chance for many more viewers to check it out. The former Tour de France...

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Well: A Great Grain Adventure

This week, the Recipes for Health columnist Martha Rose Shulman asks readers to go beyond wild rice and get adventurous with their grains. She offers new recipes with some unusual grains you may not have ever cooked or eaten. Her recipes this week include:Millet: Millet can be used in bird seed and animal feed, but the grain is enjoying a renaissance in the United States right now as a great source...

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The Lede: Inside the Fed's 2007 Deliberations

On Friday the Federal Reserve released the transcripts of its discussions in 2007, the year the housing market, the financial markets, and the broader economy began to unravel. Focusing on the crucial period from August to December, reporters from The Times shared their findings on what the transcripts reveal in the blog entries and tweets below.This post has been revised to reflect the following...

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Biden delivers preview of White House pitch on gun policies

WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden laid out the White House’s plan to prevent future gun violence before the U.S. Conference...

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Read a Lawyer's Amazingly Detailed Analysis of Bilbo's Contract in <em>The Hobbit</em>

Editor’s Note: James Daily, a lawyer and co-author of The Law and Superheroes, typically focuses his legal critiques on the superhero world at the Law and the Multiverse website he runs with fellow lawyer and co-author Ryan Davidson. Today, Daily takes a look a very important cultural document for Wired: The contract between Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves in The Hobbit.Ordinarily...

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McCartney re-records song for animated YouTube clip

(Reuters) – Former Beatle Paul McCartney has recorded a new version of his 1971 song “Heart Of The Country,” and directed fans to YouTube where the song accompanies an animated clip featuring his late wife Linda.“I did a new mega simple version of ‘Heart Of The Country’ for the Linda animation on YouTube,” McCartney posted on Twitter on Wednesday. The 40-second clip was posted in the United Kingdom...

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Life, Interrupted: Brotherly Love

Life, InterruptedSuleika Jaouad writes about her experiences as a young adult with cancer.There are a lot of things about having cancer in your 20s that feel absurd. One of those instances was when I found myself calling my brother Adam on Skype while he was studying abroad in Argentina to tell him that I had just been diagnosed with leukemia and that — no pressure — he was my only hope for a cure.Today,...

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DealBook: Rio Tinto to Book $14 Billion Charge; C.E.O. Replaced

5:42 a.m. | Updated LONDON — Two expensive acquisitions have come at a steep price for Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian mining giant.The company, the world’s second-largest mining company after BHP Billiton, said on Thursday that it was taking a $14 billion write-down on the value of aluminum and coal mining assets — a huge amount that came as a surprise to some analysts and investors.As a result,...

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London copter crash kills 2

LONDON — A helicopter smashed into a crane atop a high-rise building in central London and plummeted to the ground during the...

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When Time Is Short, Go Aerobic to Slim Down

It’s the time of year when we promise ourselves that we’re going to eat better (and less), exercise more and drop some weight. Turns out you might want to skip the weight bench and hit the treadmill if you want to keep that last resolution but don’t have a lot of time to work out.Researchers at Duke University have examined the impact of aerobic and resistance training on body and fat mass...

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Obama calls for research on media in gun violence

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood and the video game industry received scant attention Wednesday when President Barack Obama unveiled sweeping proposals for curbing gun violence in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.The White House pressed most forcefully for a reluctant Congress to pass universal background checks and bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines...

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