Michigan Legislature Approves Labor Limit

Fabrizio Costantini for The New York TimesProtesters argued on the steps of the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday as state lawmakers considered right to work legislation. LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Legislature approved sweeping legislation on Tuesday that vastly reduces the power of organized labor in a state that has been a symbol of union dominance and served as an incubator for union activity over...

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Morsi Spokesman Tries to Clarify Military Order

Petr David Josek/Associated PressDemonstrators camping out in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday. CAIRO — A day after President Mohamed Morsi formally directed the military to help keep public order and authorized soldiers to arrest civilians, a spokesman on Monday sought to draw distinctions between the order and the forms of martial law that the Egyptian Army had previously imposed. The spokesman,...

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AP Source: WKU hires Petrino as football coach

Western Kentucky has hired Bobby Petrino as its new football coach, said a person familiar with the decision.The person said the former Arkansas coach is expected to be introduced at a Monday afternoon news conference. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school has not officially announced Petrino's hiring.The 51-year-old Petrino replaces Willie Taggart,...

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A Breakthrough Against Leukemia Using Altered T-Cells

PHILIPSBURG, Pa. — Emma Whitehead has been bounding around the house lately, practicing somersaults and rugby-style tumbles that make her parents wince. It is hard to believe, but last spring Emma, then 6, was near death from leukemia. She had relapsed twice after chemotherapy, and doctors had run out of options. Desperate to save her, her parents sought an experimental treatment at...

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Advertising: In Beyoncé Deal, Pepsi Focuses on Collaboration

Beyoncé at a Pepsi photo shoot in October. The images will appear early next year as life-size cardboard cutouts in stores. FOR its campaign with Beyoncé next year, Pepsi doesn’t just want to sign up the telegenic pop star for another TV commercial. It also wants to get into the Beyoncé business. In an expansion of the recent marketing experiments that have brought PepsiCo ever closer to...

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Fear of Fighting Haunts Once-Tranquil Damascus

Muzaffar Salman/ReutersA portrait of President Bashar al-Assad outside the venue of a charity concert by the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra in Damascus on Nov. 21. DAMASCUS, Syria — Business has been terrible for Abu Tareq, a taxi driver, so last week, without telling his wife, he agreed to drive a man to the Damascus airport for 10 times the usual rate. But, he said later, he will not be doing...

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U.S. judge names lead plaintiffs in Facebook litigation

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A group of investors including state pension funds in North Carolina and Arkansas will be the lead plaintiffs in securities lawsuits arising out of Facebook Inc’s $ 16 billion initial public offering, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday.The investors, in a proposed class-action case, have accused Facebook of misrepresenting its financial condition in the run-up to the May stock offering....

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Marquez knocks out Pacquiao in 6th round

LAS VEGAS (AP) — No need for Juan Manuel Marquez to impress the judges. No need for the referee to count to 10.Marquez took care of all of his business Saturday night with a thunderous right hand that left Manny Pacquiao face first on the canvas with his remarkable career in question.Unable to win a decision in their first three fights, Marquez won the old-fashioned way with a huge right hand that...

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New Taxes to Take Effect to Fund Health Care Law

WASHINGTON — For more than a year, politicians have been fighting over whether to raise taxes on high-income people. They rarely mention that affluent Americans will soon be hit with new taxes adopted as part of the 2010 health care law. The new levies, which take effect in January, include an increase in the payroll tax on wages and a tax on investment income, including interest, dividends...

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Changes to Agriculture Highlight Cuba’s Problems

HAVANA — Cuba’s liveliest experiment with capitalism unfolds every night in a dirt lot on the edge of the capital, where Truman-era trucks lugging fresh produce meet up with hundreds of buyers on creaking bicycle carts clutching wads of cash. “This place, it feeds all of Havana,” said Misael Toledo, 37, who owns three small food stores in the city. “Before, you could only buy or sell in the...

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