Russia Seeks Arrest of Georgian Politician

MOSCOW — Russian authorities issued an arrest warrant for a Georgian politician, Givi Targamadze, on Thursday, charging that he had incited riots in Russia, in particular by helping to organize an anti-government march last May that culminated in a confrontation between protesters and the riot police. Russian authorities asserted that the large anti-government protests were being orchestrated...

Read More..

Olympian Oscar Pistorius charged with murder

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday with the murder of his girlfriend who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs.Reeva Steenkamp, a model who spoke out on Twitter against rape and abuse of women, was shot four times in the predawn...

Read More..

U.S. Approves First Method to Give the Blind Limited Vision

The F.D.A. Approves a Bionic Eye: The Argus II allows Barbara Campbell, who lost her sight 20 years ago, to see the world through patterns of light. Scientists hope it is the beginning of even more treatments.The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first treatment to give limited vision to people who are blind, involving a technology called the “artificial retina.” With...

Read More..

Judge Clears Transocean Plea in Gulf Spill

HOUSTON – A federal judge in New Orleans approved on Thursday Transocean’s agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge and pay $400 million in criminal penalties for its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout that left 11 workers dead and resulted in a yearlong moratorium on deepwater drilling. The Switzerland-based owner and operator of the ill-fated Deepwater...

Read More..

Obama to Open Trade Talks With E.U.

BRUSSELS — Embarking on what could be the biggest trade agreement ever in its economic sweep, officials from the United States and the European Union indicated Wednesday that they had already resolved some of the stickiest issues behind closed doors. But the sheer ambition of the trade negotiations, which aim not only to eliminate import duties but also synchronize regulations governing...

Read More..

Barry Bonds seeks dismissal of felony conviction

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A lawyer for Barry Bonds has urged a federal appeals court to toss out the slugger's obstruction of justice conviction.Dennis Riordan (REAR-den) argued Wednesday before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Bonds' was never specifically charged with the crime he was convicted of. A jury in April 2011 found Bonds guilty of obstruction for saying he was a "celebrity child"...

Read More..

Well: Straining to Hear and Fend Off Dementia

At a party the other night, a fund-raiser for a literary magazine, I found myself in conversation with a well-known author whose work I greatly admire. I use the term “conversation” loosely. I couldn’t hear a word he said. But worse, the effort I was making to hear was using up so much brain power that I completely forgot the titles of his books.A senior moment? Maybe. (I’m 65.) But for me, it’s complicated...

Read More..

DealBook: Societe Generale to Restructure After 4th-Quarter Loss

5:05 a.m. | Updated PARIS – Société Générale, one of the largest French banks, posted a larger fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday than the market had expected and said it would restructure to cut costs and simplify operations.The bank reported a net loss of 476 million euros ($640 million), compared with a profit of 100 million euros in the period a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected...

Read More..

The Lede: Australian Report on Israel's 'Prisoner X' Suggests Melbourne Man Was Mossad Agent

Part of an Australian television report on the mystery of Israel’s “Prisoner X” broadcast on Tuesday.Last Updated, 2:53 p.m. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday that a man referred to in Israel as “Prisoner X,” who was jailed and died under mysterious circumstances in 2010, might have been an Australian-born Israeli who worked for Israel’s secret service, the Mossad.According...

Read More..

Wrestling body reacts to Olympic rejection

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The governing body of wrestling says the IOC's move to drop the sport is an "aberration" against a founding event of the Olympics.Known by its French initials FILA, the organization says it is "greatly astonished" by the IOC executive board decision.FILA says it will take "all necessary measures" to convince IOC members to maintain wrestling's Olympic status when they...

Read More..