School Yoga Class Draws Religious Protest From Christians

T. Lynne Pixley for The New York TimesMiriam Ruiz during a yoga class last week at Paul Ecke Central Elementary School in Encinitas, Calif. A few dozen parents are protesting that the program amounts to religious indoctrination. More Photos »ENCINITAS, Calif. — By 9:30 a.m. at Paul Ecke Central Elementary School, tiny feet were shifting from downward dog pose to chair pose to warrior pose in surprisingly...

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With E.C.B. in Spotlight, Bundesbank Finds Itself in the Shadows

Mustafah Abdulaziz for The New York TimesThe Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, built in 1967 in Frankfurt. FRANKFURT — The exposed-concrete slab of the Bundesbank headquarters stands like a bulwark outside the downtown financial district here, a stolid, Brutalist structure that in its sheer mass evokes not just the German central bank’s stubborn resistance to change but, above all, its obsessive...

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Connecticut shooting: 20 schoolchildren among the 28 dead

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Swiss Team Plans Solar-Powered Flight From California to New York

The Solar Impulse team has had a busy week in the U.S., but that hasn’t included the ’round-the-world flight they had hoped for by now. Instead, co-founders Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg have been meeting with government agencies, politicians and benefactors in hopes of setting up a California to New York flight with their solar-powered airplane, slated to take place next year.The...

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Matt Damon fracking film in Berlin festival lineup

BERLIN (Reuters) – The Berlin film festival on Thursday announced the first movies of its 2013 lineup, and among the main competition entries will be U.S. director Gus Van Sant‘s drama starring Matt Damon and centering around the controversial shale gas industry.“Promised Land” will have its international premiere at the annual cinema showcase, although it is scheduled to be launched first in the...

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Well: Latke Recipes for Health

Here at the Well blog we have learned not to mess with the latke. Readers love the traditional dish just as it is. But as Martha Rose Shulman discovered in this week’s Recipes for Health, it can also be exciting to experiment with the recipe and develop new flavors so that latkes can be enjoyed every day of the year.I decided to experiment with other vegetables for my latkes, combining carrots and...

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E.P.A. Proposes Tighter Soot Rule

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency announced a new standard for soot pollution on Friday that will force industry, utilities and local governments to find ways to reduce emissions of particles that are linked to thousands of cases of disease and death each year. The agency, acting under a court deadline, is proposing an annual standard of 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air,...

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Susan Rice withdraws from Secretary of State consideration

WASHINGTON – Susan Rice, who came under heavy criticism for her defense of the Obama administration after armed militants killed...

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Amazon Pushes Streaming Media to iOS and Roku

The fight for streaming eyes and ears continues as Amazon pushes its video player to every iOS device and its Cloud Player app lands on Roku boxes and Samsung Smart TVs.Amazon announced on Thursday the immediate availability of Amazon Instant Video for iPhone and iPod touch. The app joins the iPad app launched in August. With most of iOS covered, can Amazon convince...

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Documents: Prisoner plotted to kill Justin Bieber

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — An imprisoned man whose infatuation with Justin Bieber included a tattoo of the pop star on his leg has told investigators in New Mexico he hatched a plot to kill him.Court documents in a New Mexico district court say Dana Martin told investigators he persuaded a man he met in prison and the man’s nephew to kill Bieber, Bieber’s bodyguard and two others not connected to the...

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