Business Briefing | Retailing: Best Buy Shares Rally on Improved Holiday Sales

The Best Buy Company had better-than-expected holiday sales, setting off a gain of $2, or 16.4 percent, in its stock price, to $14.21 a share on Friday. The holiday quarter accounted for about a third of Best Buy’s revenue last year. The chain said that revenue at stores open at least a year fell 1.4 percent for the nine weeks ended Jan. 5. The company’s performance in the United States was flat....

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Former Lab Technician Denies Faulty DNA Work in Rape Cases

A former New York City laboratory technician whose work on rape cases is now being scrutinized for serious mistakes said on Friday that she had been unaware there were problems in her work and, disputing an earlier report, denied she had resigned under pressure. The former lab technician, Serrita Mitchell, said any problems must have been someone else’s. “My work?” Ms. Mitchell said....

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Former Lab Technician Denies Faulty DNA Work in Rape Cases

A former New York City laboratory technician whose work on rape cases is now being scrutinized for serious mistakes said on Friday that she had been unaware there were problems in her work and, disputing an earlier report, denied she had resigned under pressure. The former lab technician, Serrita Mitchell, said any problems must have been someone else’s. “My work?” Ms. Mitchell said....

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Gadgetwise Blog: Project Basement: The Receiver

My search for a receiver is over.As I had said in a previous installment, buying a receiver used to be easy. You got the one that sounded best in your price range, period. Now, connections are the first concern — will you have enough HDMI slots for the next few years?That said, I couldn’t make the purchase based on connectors and specifications alone. This is, after all, audio equipment. How could...

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French Soldier Killed in Somalia Commando Raid

At least one French commando was  killed during a daring raid Friday night to rescue a French intelligence operative held hostage in Somilia. The captive officer, identified as Denis Allex, was killed by his captors during the operation, the French defense minister said Saturday. A second commando remained unaccounted for. A statement by the defense ministry said that two commandoes...

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F.A.A. to Begin a Review of Boeing 787s

Federal authorities said Friday they would order a review of electrical systems in Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner following a spate of incidents, including a battery fire earlier this week in Boston, 15 months after the technologically advanced aircraft came into service. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would examine critical systems on the Boeing 787, including the design, manufacture...

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The New Old Age Blog: Taking a Zen Approach to Caregiving

You try to help your elderly father. Irritated and defensive, he snaps at you instead of going along with your suggestion. And you think “this is so unfair” and feel a rising tide of anger.How to handle situations like this, which arise often and create so much angst for caregivers?Jennifer Block finds the answer in what she calls “contemplative caregiving” — the application of Buddhist principles...

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The New Old Age Blog: Taking a Zen Approach to Caregiving

You try to help your elderly father. Irritated and defensive, he snaps at you instead of going along with your suggestion. And you think “this is so unfair” and feel a rising tide of anger.How to handle situations like this, which arise often and create so much angst for caregivers?Jennifer Block finds the answer in what she calls “contemplative caregiving” — the application of Buddhist principles...

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Visit by Google Chairman May Benefit North Korea

BEIJING — As a work of propaganda, the images that North Korea circulated this week showing Google’s executive chairman, Eric E. Schmidt, touring a high-tech incubation center are hard to beat. Adrian Bradshaw/European Pressphoto AgencyEric E. Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, at left wearing a tie, and former Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico spoke to reporters in Beijing on Thursday...

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India Ink: Railway Fare Hike Announced

The Indian government said Wednesday that it would raise all railway passenger fares, which would be the first across-the-board increase in nine years, as it grapples with a growing fiscal deficit and weak finances.Rail passengers will have to pay 10 to 25 percent more, depending on fare class, under the government’s plan, which is expected take effect Jan. 21. Pawan Kumar Bansal, the railways minister,...

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European Central Bank Leaves Key Rate Unchanged

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank left its main interest rate at a record low Thursday, apparently concluding that any further reduction would be powerless to ease a severe credit crunch in countries like Italy or Spain. The E.C.B. left its benchmark rate at 0.75 percent. Some bank watchers had looked for a further reduction, in light of recent data showing that inflation is falling and...

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Flu Widespread, Leading a Range of Winter’s Ills

It is not your imagination — more people you know are sick this winter, even people who have had flu shots. The country is in the grip of three emerging flu or flulike epidemics: an early start to the annual flu season with an unusually aggressive virus, a surge in a new type of norovirus, and the worst whooping cough outbreak in 60 years. And these are all developing amid the normal winter...

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Flu Widespread, Leading a Range of Winter’s Ills

It is not your imagination — more people you know are sick this winter, even people who have had flu shots. The country is in the grip of three emerging flu or flulike epidemics: an early start to the annual flu season with an unusually aggressive virus, a surge in a new type of norovirus, and the worst whooping cough outbreak in 60 years. And these are all developing amid the normal winter...

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State of the Art: Mixing and Matching to Create the Near-Perfect Digital Calendar - State of the Art

60 Seconds With Pogue: Calendars: David Pogue reviews calendar apps and software.You know what’s kind of wild? We can identify products by their container designs. You’d know a ketchup bottle, even if it was empty and unlabeled, no matter what the brand. You’d know a pickle jar, or a milk jug, or a bottle of salad dressing, or a cereal box just by their container shapes. Same goes for the...

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France Debates Gay Marriage Law

Jeff Pachoud/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDemonstrators in Lyon, France, spoke out in December in favor of same-sex marriage. President François Hollande supports a “marriage for all” bill. PARIS — Frigide Barjot has made a career of mocking the establishment of France, dressing in fluorescent pink sweaters, playing in a band called the Dead Pompidous and hosting a philosophy soirée at which...

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DealBook: Ping An Shares Fall for 2nd Straight Day

SHANGHAI – Shares in the Ping An Group, the Chinese insurance and banking giant, fell in Shanghai trading for the second consecutive day on Wednesday over concerns that the British bank HSBC was having trouble selling its 15.6 percent stake in the company.HSBC had announced plans in December to sell a $9.4 billion stake in Ping An to the Charoen Pokphand Group of Thailand. Part of that sale has already...

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Recipes for Health: Cauliflower and Tuna Salad — Recipes for Health

Andrew Scrivani for The New York TimesI have added tuna to a classic Italian antipasto of cauliflower and capers dressed with vinegar and olive oil. For the best results give the cauliflower lots of time to marinate. 1 large or 2 small or medium cauliflowers, broken into small florets 1 5-ounce can water-packed light (not albacore) tuna, drained 1 plump garlic clove, minced...

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Recipes for Health: Cauliflower and Tuna Salad — Recipes for Health

Andrew Scrivani for The New York TimesI have added tuna to a classic Italian antipasto of cauliflower and capers dressed with vinegar and olive oil. For the best results give the cauliflower lots of time to marinate. 1 large or 2 small or medium cauliflowers, broken into small florets 1 5-ounce can water-packed light (not albacore) tuna, drained 1 plump garlic clove, minced...

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Online Banking Attacks Were Work of Iran, U.S. Officials Say

SAN FRANCISCO — The attackers hit one American bank after the next. As in so many previous attacks, dozens of online banking sites slowed, hiccupped or ground to a halt before recovering several minutes later. Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York TimesJames A. Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington believes that recent online attacks on American banks have...

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India Ink: India Lodges Protest with Pakistan Over Soldiers' Deaths

India said it summoned Pakistan’s envoy in New Delhi on Wednesday to strongly protest the killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers in the disputed territory of Kashmir after the second firefight in three days between the nuclear-armed neighbors.The Indian government said that Pakistan troops crossed the de facto border, known as the Line of Control, on Tuesday and attacked Indian soldiers who...

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DealBook: Easing of Rules for Banks Acknowledges Reality

When a global committee of regulators and central bankers agreed to a new set of rules for the banking system a year and a half ago, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, told The Financial Times, “I’m very close to thinking the United States shouldn’t be in Basel anymore. I would not have agreed to rules that are blatantly anti-American.”Over the last weekend, Mr. Dimon finally got...

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