IHT Rendezvous: Is Europe's New Budget Really 20 Percent Green? Opinions Differ.

The European Union’s proposed budget for 2014-20, fiercely negotiated in Brussels until Friday, is smaller than its predecessors — a first for a European budget and the surest sign that Continent-wide austerity has seeped into one of the most important documents of the union.Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, insists that there is another guiding principle to the new Multiannual...

Read More..

Pink Trades Grammys for Mommy Time with Daughter Willow

By Maggie Coughlan 02/11/2013 at 08:00 AM EST Grammys, schammys!Even though she was nominated for best pop vocal album, Pink was absent from the awards show on Sunday. Instead, the 33-year-old singer spent the evening on Twitter, sharing her musings about the broadcast – and her busy day. "I'm sorry honey @hartluck but every time Johnny...

Read More..

What heals traumatized kids? Answers are lacking

CHICAGO (AP) — Shootings and other traumatic events involving children are not rare events, but there's a startling lack of scientific evidence on the best ways to help young survivors and witnesses heal, a government-funded analysis found.School-based counseling treatments showed the most promise, but there's no hard proof that anxiety drugs or other medication work and far more research is needed...

Read More..

Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures. The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August. The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index...

Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: Meditations on the F1 Season to Come - and on 20 Seasons Run

PARIS — The 2013 Formula One season has not really begun. The first race takes place March 17 in Melbourne. But with the launches of the new cars and the first four days of test sessions ending Friday, the seeds have been planted. What kind of plant will grow is not easy to figure out.I have been observing from the sidelines for a couple of weeks, watching the fanfare of the car launches — or rather,...

Read More..

Justin Bieber's Three Funniest Saturday Night Live Moments

TV Watch By Alison Schwartz 02/10/2013 at 08:05 AM EST A massive midwinter snow left the northeast feeling just a little bit chilly – make that freezing – but it was nothing a heartwarming bout of Bieber Fever couldn't cure.Just tell that to the fans who may have caught actual fevers roughing it out on the snowy...

Read More..

After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

Read More..

Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures. The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August. The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index...

Read More..

Berlusconi Remains the Wild Card in Italy Race

ROME — One candidate promised to drop an unpopular new property tax and refund all prior payments in cash. Another called that proposal a “poisoned meatball,” disconnected from reality. A third suggested that Al Qaeda blow up the Italian Parliament — then backtracked — and the man generally considered the front-runner is campaigning on vague promises of stability, so has often been ignored. ...

Read More..

Biggest Loser's David: I'm Losing Weight and 'Emotional Baggage'

The Biggest Loser By Patrick Gomez 02/09/2013 at 08:30 AM EST Many Biggest Loser contestants look forward to running marathons, but David Jones wants to run after criminals!"It sounds terrible to say," Jones, a police officer, told reporters Tuesday. "But I've kind of been spoiling [for a foot chase.] I go to...

Read More..