Police offer confused testimony in Pistorius case

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The detective leading the police investigation into Oscar Pistorius' fatal shooting of his girlfriend offered confusing testimony Wednesday, at one point agreeing with the athlete's defense that officers had no evidence challenging the runner's claim he accidentally killed her.Testimony by Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha of the South African Police Service left...

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Well: Effects of Bullying Last Into Adulthood, Study Finds

Victims of bullying at school, and bullies themselves, are more likely to experience psychiatric problems in childhood, studies have shown. Now researchers have found that elevated risk of psychiatric trouble extends into adulthood, sometimes even a decade after the intimidation has ended.The new study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday, is the most comprehensive effort to date...

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American Executive Lashes Out at French Unions, Touching Off Uproar

PARIS — “How stupid do you think we are?” With those choice words, and several more similar in tone, the chief executive of an American tire company touched off a furor in France on Wednesday as he responded to a government plea to take over a Goodyear factory slated for closure in northern France. “I have visited the factory a couple of times,” Maurice Taylor Jr., the head of Titan...

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Memo From Mexico City: Mexico Anticrime Plan Challenged by Unabated Violence

Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated PressA man guarding a roadblock at the entrance to Cruz Quemada, a rural town near Ayutla in the state of Guerrero. A recent spate of violence in the area has led communities to take up arms. MEXICO CITY — The new Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, campaigned on a promise to reduce the violence spawned by the drug trade and organized crime, and to shift the talk about...

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Pistorius: Lover caught in tragedy or killer?

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius portrayed himself as a lover caught in tragedy, wielding a pistol and frightened as he stood only on his stumps, then killed his girlfriend after mistaking her for an intruder on Valentine's Day.Prosecutors, however, said the double-amputee Olympian committed premeditated murder, planning the slaying, then firing at Reeva Steenkamp as she cowered behind...

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DNA Analysis, More Accessible Than Ever, Opens New Doors

Matt Roth for The New York TimesSam Bosley of Frederick, Md., going shopping with his daughter, Lillian, 13, who has a malformed brain and severe developmental delays, seizures and vision problems. More Photos »Debra Sukin and her husband were determined to take no chances with her second pregnancy. Their first child, Jacob, who had a serious genetic disorder, did not babble when he was a year old...

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DealBook: Einhorn Has Edge in Dispute With Apple

In the battle between Apple and David Einhorn, score a point for the hedge fund manager.A federal judge said on Tuesday that he was leaning toward Mr. Einhorn’s contention in a lawsuit that the iPad maker violated securities regulations by improperly bundling several shareholder proposals into one matter.The lawsuit by Mr. Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan,...

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As Assad Holds Firm, Obama Could Revisit Arms Policy

WASHINGTON — When President Obama rebuffed four of his top national security officials who wanted to arm the rebels in Syria last fall, it put an end to a months-long debate over how aggressively Washington should respond to the strife there that has now left nearly 70,000 dead. ReutersA Free Syrian Army member smokes a cigarette inside a factory producing improvised mortar shells. ...

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Jerry Buss, Lakers' flamboyant owner, dies at 80

Jerry Buss built a glittering life at the intersection of sports and Hollywood.After growing up in poverty in Wyoming, he earned success in academia, aerospace and real estate before discovering his favorite vocation when he bought the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979. While Buss wrote the checks and fostered partnerships with two generations of basketball greats, the Lakers won 10 NBA titles and became...

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Well: Susan Love's Illness Gives New Focus to Her Cause

During a talk last spring in San Francisco, Dr. Susan Love, the well-known breast cancer book author and patient advocate, chided the research establishment for ignoring the needs of people with cancer. “The only difference between a researcher and a patient is a diagnosis,” she told the crowd. “We’re all patients.”It was an eerily prescient lecture. Less than two months later, Dr. Love was given...

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