French Capture Gao Airport in Move to Retake North Mali

KONNA, Mali — French special forces took control of the airport in the Islamic rebel stronghold of Gao, the French government said Saturday, meeting “serious resistance” from militants even as they pressed northward. Gao is one of three main northern cities in Mali that has been under rebel control for months, and the capture of the main strategic points in Gao represents the biggest prize...

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How to Share Vine Videos on Tumblr

When Twitter launched Vine Thursday it omitted one important social network from its sharing options: Tumblr. Looped GIF images are extremely popular on Tumblr, so the audience there for Vine videos is potentially huge.Just because there’s no native way to share Vines on Tumblr, doesn’t mean you can’t share your creations on the site. Here are few different ways you can include Vine videos in your...

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Guy Fieri Says His Beef Sandwich Recipe Is 'the Bomb!'

By Maggie Coughlan 01/26/2013 at 07:00 PM EST Guy Fieri's Beef Sandwich Andrew Purcell; Inset: Michael Tran/Getty After crossing the nation on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy Fieri knows a thing or two about what makes a sandwich spectacular.The co-host of Food...

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now. Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock...

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Syrian Refugees Pour Into Jordan in Record Numbers, U.N. Says

BEIRUT, Lebanon — More than 6,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan over the past two days, a record influx that prompted the Jordanian monarch, Abdullah II, to call Friday for more international aid, even as the Syrian government urged refugees to return in a bid that was met with broad skepticism among antigovernment activists. The accelerating flight from Syria into Jordan and Lebanon has occurred...

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Spanish newspaper sorry for “false photo” of Venezuela’s Chavez

MADRID/CARACAS (Reuters) – Spain‘s influential El Pais newspaper apologized on Thursday for splashing a “false photo” of Venezuela‘s cancer-stricken leader Hugo Chavez on its front page, prompting a furious response from the government in Caracas, which vowed to take legal action.Within minutes of posting the image online as a global exclusive, El Pais said it had discovered from social media that...

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Lindsey Vonn & Tiger Woods: Are They Dating?

By Elizabeth Leonard and Dahvi Shira 01/25/2013 at 07:05 PM EST Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods Kevin Mazur/Wireimage; Stanley Chou/Getty Has Tiger Woods struck gold in his love life with Olympian Lindsey Vonn?They have the Internet buzzing with dating rumors, following...

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now. Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock...

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India Ink: In India, a Rise of Private Universities and Liberal Arts Programs

Higher EducationThe Choice on India InkGuidance on American college applications for readers in India from The Times’s admissions blog.If you are a student who is interested in taking a variety of university courses and having time to narrow your career options, then a liberal arts education may be an ideal fit for you.A number of new private universities with liberal arts programs have sprung up...

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Baby Born with Heart Outside Her Chest Goes Home from Hospital

By Dahvi Shira 01/24/2013 at 06:40 PM EST Ashley and Audrina Cardenas Three-month-old Audrina Cardenas is a survivor.The infant, delivered on Oct. 15 with a rare genetic deformity called "ectopia cordis," was born with part of her heart outside of her body. Following...

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

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S&P rises for seventh day but 1,500 too steep a climb

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The smallest of gains gave the Standard & Poor's 500 its seventh straight winning day on Thursday, but the index failed to hold above the 1,500 line, restrained by Apple's worst day in more than four years. Apple Inc slid 12.4 percent to $450.50 a day after it posted revenue that missed Wall Street's forecast as iPhone sales were poorer than expected. ...

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IHT Special: Syrians Struggle in an Uneasy Lebanon

Sam TarlingA Syrian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. AL-MINYA, LEBANON — For Mohammed al-Ahmad and his wife Zuhour, this is the second cold, wet winter of the war. They passed the first in the Bab Amr district of Homs, a onetime rebel stronghold that was taken back by government forces last February, after a long and unrelenting siege. Much of the neighborhood was destroyed. They have no...

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Let’s Welcome Back Hockey with This ESPN Commercial

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:  RELATED: Cookie Monster Batman and the Dog You Wish You HadHockey, schmockey. As a whole, the Atlantic...

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Women have caught up to men on lung cancer risk

Smoke like a man, die like a man.U.S. women who smoke today have a much greater risk of dying from lung cancer than they did decades ago, partly because they are starting younger and smoking more — that is, they are lighting up like men, new research shows.Women also have caught up with men in their risk of dying from smoking-related illnesses. Lung cancer risk leveled off in the 1980s for men but...

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S&P up for sixth day, Apple slip could halt rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose for a sixth day on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected profits from IBM and Google but the rally could be halted as Apple's after-hours miss sent its shares lower. The S&P was just 4.7 percent from its all-time closing high as IBM's and Google's earnings, released after Tuesday's close, followed on the heels of stronger U.S. economic data....

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Court Shooting Highlights Growing Gun Debate in Philippines

Bullit Marquez/Associated PressGlen Elaine Ella removed items left in the coffin of her daughter Stephanie Nicole Ella, 7, who was hit with a stray bullet as their family watched New Year's fireworks. MANILA — A fatal shooting in a central Philippine courtroom on Tuesday added impetus to a growing national debate over firearms regulation in a country with an enthusiastic gun culture much like America’s....

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‘Atari’ Is in Trouble Again

Atari is declaring bankruptcy — twice. Both the U.S. video game company and its French parent have done so, the latest twist for the company which largely invented the video game industry and remains synonymous with it, despite having seen its glory days end by the mid-1980s.But wait. Even though the Atari name celebrated its fortieth anniversary last year, it’s a mistake to talk about Atari...

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Barack Obama & Family Party at Star-Studded Post Inauguration Bash

Caught in the Act 01/22/2013 at 07:50 PM EST President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama Chip Somodevilla/Getty President Barack Obama celebrated his second inauguration Monday night with a private party following his very public day.The Obama family...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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