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Nation / World

Religious Groups Urge Brands  To Address Bangladesh Plant Safety

Sunday, May 19, 2013

New York — Investors including Trillium Asset Management, U.S. pension funds and religious groups are putting additional pressure on retailers with suppliers in Bangladesh to disclose and improve safety in factories. One group has written to retailers asking them to commit to an international safety agreement that’s supported by labor monitoring groups and signed by 37 brands. In a separate letter, investors including public pension funds are urging companies to …

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Jim Kim’s New Job: ‘Deliverologist’

Sunday, May 19, 2013

The advice Sir Michael Barber offers about public management is not warm and fuzzy. If a narrow monopoly interferes with service delivery, break it. If cronyism supplants merit hiring, bust it up. If a school or hospital or train line runs behind, offer the support needed to improve — then track the performance relentlessly and ride whoever is responsible until it does. It’s …

House Plans 37th Health Care Repeal Vote

Friday, May 17, 2013

Washington — Doing the same thing over and over again — and expecting a different result - is supposed to be the definition of insanity. Today, it is the only thing on the calendar for the House of Representatives. Since Republicans took over in 2011, the House has …

Convicted Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Gets Life In Prison

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Philadelphia — A Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted of killing three babies born alive at his grimy clinic was spared a possible death sentence yesterday in a deal with prosecutors. Dr. Kermit Gosnell gave up his right to appeal and in return will spend life in prison. Gosnell, 72, …

Stricter Drunken Driving Rules Urged

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Washington — The National Transportation Safety Board recommended yesterday that states lower their threshold for drunken driving with the goal of reducing alcohol-related fatal crashes, which have held steady for much of the past 15 years. The board voted 5-0 to encourage states to change the minimum blood …

Chinese ‘Censors’ Watch Endless Porn

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Beijing — In the annals of bizarre bureaucratic desk jobs, the Chinese government may have all others beat. Officials in charge of censoring pornography for the southern province of Hunan gave a rare and revealing peek into the strange (and quite possibly libido-numbing) demands of their job in …

CBO: Federal Deficit Shrinking Faster Than Expected

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Washington — The federal deficit is shrinking more quickly than expected, and the government’s long-term debt has largely stabilized for the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday, in a report that could strengthen the Obama administration’s hand in the budget battles with congressional Republicans. The budget …

IRS Scandal To Be Probed For Crimes

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Washington — The Justice Department is investigating the Internal Revenue Service for targeting tea party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax exempt status, Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday, widening a probe that includes investigations by three committees in Congress. Ineffective management at the IRS …

Russia Expels a U.S. Diplomat Accused of Recruiting Spies

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Moscow — An American diplomat accused by Russia of spying for the CIA was ordered to leave the country yesterday after a highly publicized arrest that seemed designed to embarrass the United States and its premier intelligence service. The expulsion of Ryan Fogle was announced by the Russian …

Report: Ambassador Said No to Security

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Cairo — In the month before attackers stormed U.S. facilities in Benghazi and killed four Americans, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens twice turned down offers of security assistance made by the senior U.S. military official in the region in response to concerns that Stevens had raised in a still-secret …

Jolie’s Mastectomy Puts Focus on Agonizing Choice

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

What does it mean when Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood actress and activist who epitomizes beauty and sexual power, tells the world that she’s just had a double mastectomy? It’s almost as if Marilyn Monroe announced she had her …

Garcon, This Cricket In My Crepe is Delicious

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Paris — French chef David Faure says diners don’t complain about the crickets he started serving with his foie gras starter last month. Some say they wouldn’t mind more. Faure, who runs the Michelin-starred restaurant Aphrodite in Nice, praises the popcorn flavor of crickets and the nutty tones …