Ireland Seeks Easing of Its Debt Terms

DUBLIN — Ireland has been widely praised as the good pupil of the euro zone’s austerity school of thought. Now it wants to be rewarded. Ireland, whose banking crisis required it to receive a bailout of €85 billion, or $110 billion, by international lenders in 2010, is pressing for the right to ease the payback terms of billions of euros of debt it incurred in that process. It is also pushing...

Read More..

Croatia Withdrawing Soldiers from U.N. Force on Israel-Syria Frontier

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic of Croatia said Thursday that his country would withdraw its soldiers from a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights following reports that Croatia was funneling weapons to antigovernment fighters in Syria. Croatia has nearly 100 soldiers serving with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which is responsible for maintaining the fragile...

Read More..

First Lady Announces Public-Private Plan to Bolster Physical Education

CHICAGO — As part of her campaign to curb childhood obesity, Michelle Obama on Thursday announced an ambitious plan to increase physical education in the country’s public schools with the help of private companies. Jeff Haynes/ReutersMichelle Obama spoke in Chicago on Thursday about her plan to increase physical activity in schools. Under the $70 million...

Read More..

DealBook: Heinz Case May Involve a Side Bet in London

Regulators have escalated an investigation into suspicious trades placed ahead of the $23 billion takeover of H. J. Heinz, focusing on a complex derivative bet routed through London, according to two people briefed on the matter.The development builds on a recent regulatory action mounted against a Goldman Sachs account in Switzerland that bought Heinz options contracts. It also comes a week after...

Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: Eve Best Returns to the Globe, This Time as a Director

LONDON — The recent press conference announcing the 2013 season at Shakespeare’s Globe on one level seemed like variations on an ongoing theme.A onetime Falstaff at this address, Roger Allam, is returning to open the season as Prospero in “The Tempest,” directed by Jeremy Herrin, while the perennial favorite, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” will be seen in May in a new staging, this time from the Globe’s...

Read More..

AP Source: 49ers to send Smith to KC

Alex Smith is headed to Kansas City, the first major acquisition by the Chiefs since Andy Reid took over as coach.A person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Chiefs have agreed to deal for the 2005 top overall draft pick who lost his starting quarterback job in San Francisco to Colin Kaepernick last season.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because...

Read More..

Personal Health: Too Many Pills in Pregnancy

The thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s left thousands of babies with deformed limbs because their mothers innocently took a sleeping pill thought to be safe during pregnancy,In its well-publicized wake, countless pregnant women avoided all medications, fearing that any drug they took could jeopardize their babies’ development.I was terrified in December 1968 when, during the first weeks of my...

Read More..

Shell Suspends Drilling for Arctic Ocean in 2013

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced Wednesday it will not drill for petroleum in the Arctic Ocean in 2013. Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum said in an announcement that the company will "pause" its exploration drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The company made progress in Alaska, but Arctic offshore drilling is a long-term program that the company is...

Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: Memories of Floating Over Luxor, Now Tinged With the Macabre

My 5-year-old son spent the entire hot-air balloon ride over Luxor crouched in the bottom of the basket, terrified of the flames that kept shooting into the balloon—the flames that produced the hot air that kept us afloat. He missed the glorious views: of the ancient ruins and the quilts of green grass, of the magnificent sunrise and the dancing shadows it created out of the dozens of other hot-air...

Read More..

Marlins owner says he didn't renege on promises

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — A cluster of media stood outside the Miami Marlins clubhouse, awaiting the arrival of owner Jeffrey Loria, when outfielder Bryan Petersen walked past."Somebody getting married?" Petersen said.It was more like somebody trying to salvage a relationship. Loria's three-day public relations campaign to patch things up with angry fans brought him to spring training Tuesday for an interview...

Read More..