Wealth Matters: Advisers Caution Against Hasty Decisions in Advance of Tax Changes

WITH all the ominous talk of tax increases and a “fiscal cliff” if President Obama and Congressional leaders can’t agree on a plan to avert automatic tax increases on Dec. 31, some investors may be tempted to act soon to take advantage of the current tax rates. But financial advisers say that in their rush to do something this year, investors may end up with regrets. “Any time you...

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Attacks Resume After Israeli Assault Kills Hamas Leader

KIRYAT MALACHI, Israel — Israel and Hamas widened their increasingly deadly conflict over Gaza on Thursday, as a militant rocket killed three civilians in an apartment block in this small southern town. The deaths were likely to lead Israel to intensify its military offensive on Gaza, now in its second day of airstrikes. In Gaza, the Palestinian death toll rose to 11 as Israel struck what...

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Belize prime minister says McAfee “bonkers,” should help in murder case

BELIZE CITY (Reuters) – Belize‘s prime minister on Wednesday urged anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee to help the country’s police with a murder inquiry, calling McAfee “bonkers” for recent media statements.“I don’t want to be unkind, but he seems to be extremely paranoid – I would go so far as to say bonkers,” Prime Minister Dean Barrow said in Belize...

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R.A. Dickey, David Price win Cy Young awards

NEW YORK (AP) — R.A. Dickey languished in the minors for 14 years, bouncing from one team to another before finally perfecting that perplexing knuckleball that made him a major league star.David Price was the top pick in the draft and an ace by age 25, throwing 98 mph heat with a left arm live enough to make the most hardened scout sing.Raised only 34 miles apart in central Tennessee, Dickey and Price...

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Ask an Expert: Answers About Alzheimer’s, Part 1

Because of the number of questions, his answers are being split into several parts. The first two, today and Friday, focus on diagnostic issues, including new tests, the role played by genetics and inheritance, causes and policy issues. Next Wednesday Dr. Doraiswamy will address treatment, patient care and new clinical trials. (Some questions published here have been edited, and not all questions...

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Obama Meets C.E.O.’s as Fiscal Reckoning Nears

Luke Sharrett for The New York TimesUrsula M. Burns, chief of Xerox, said the president discussed few specifics of a potential agreement but emphasized that “we cannot go over the fiscal cliff.” WASHINGTON — President Obama extended an olive branch to business leaders Wednesday, seeking their support as he prepared to negotiate with Congressional Republicans over the fiscal impasse in Washington....

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Israelis Launch Major Assault on Gaza, Killing Hamas Commander

ReutersPalestinians extinguished a fire after an Israeli airstrike on a car carrying Ahmed al-Jabari, who ran Hamas's military wing, on Wednesday in Gaza City. GAZA — Israel on Wednesday launched one of the most ferocious assaults on Gaza since its invasion four years ago, hitting at least 20 targets in aerial attacks that killed the top military commander of Hamas, drew strong condemnation from Egypt...

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Roethlisberger has rib injury too, out vs. Ravens

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger's sprained right shoulder is just the start of his problems.The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said Wednesday he also dislocated a rib while getting sacked in the third quarter of Monday night's win against Kansas City. Roethlisberger sprained the SC joint in his shoulder on the play but says the rib issue is a bigger concern.Roethlisberger said doctors are concerned...

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Kidney Donors Given Mandatory Safeguards

ST. LOUIS — Addressing long-held concerns about whether organ donors have adequate protections, the country’s transplant regulators acted late Monday to require that hospitals thoroughly inform living kidney donors of the risks they face, fully evaluate their medical and psychological suitability, and then track their health for two years after donation. Enactment of the policies by the...

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Samuel Adams Brewer Counsels Small Businesses

Gretchen Ertl for The New York TimesJim Koch, who started brewing Samuel Adams Boston Lager at his house in 1984, and Carlene O'Garro, who runs a cake business, participate in a program in which big businesses help small ones. Carlene O’Garro’s cake business was barely a month old when she arrived at the Samuel Adams brewery in South Boston recently to meet with business counselors, but she brought...

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