Dec
18

European Mobile Stocks Fall After Costly Spectrum Auction

BERLIN — Shares of four big European cellphone operators fell Monday after they paid more than twice what investors had been expecting in a spectrum auction in the Netherlands, raising concern that a damaging bidding war could sap the industry. The Dutch auction began Oct. 31 and ended Friday, raising 3.8 billion euros, or $5 billion, for spectrum that the companies plan to use for high-speed...
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Report Cites Bias by Police In Killings In Canada

OTTAWA — Robert W. Pickton, a pig farmer, managed to murder 49 women before his arrest in 2002 largely because of “systemic bias by the police” against the victims, the commissioner who investigated the actions of the police said Monday. Up until Mr. Pickton’s arrest, at least 67 women had disappeared in British Columbia, mainly from Vancouver’s downtown East Side. The victims were mainly...
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Dec
17

DealBook: S.E.C. Says Asset Firm Manipulated Trades to Enrich Some Clients

Just a few years ago, sitting in his 19th-floor office with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, 3,000 miles from Wall Street, Peter J. Eichler Jr., had reached the top of the money management world.His firm, Aletheia Research and Management, based in Santa Monica, Calif., controlled more than $10 billion. Mr. Eichler’s stellar investment performance attracted the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan...
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The New Old Age Blog: In the Middle: Why Elderly Couples Fight

George and Gracie (let’s call them that because using their real names would make them even unhappier than they already appear to be) are in their 80s and married for more than 65 years. Until recently they seemed to ride the waves that are inevitable in any marriage that spans nearly seven decades; through good and bad, they were partners and best friends.But lately — ever since her hospitalization...
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The New Old Age Blog: In the Middle: Why Elderly Couples Fight

George and Gracie (let’s call them that because using their real names would make them even unhappier than they already appear to be) are in their 80s and married for more than 65 years. Until recently they seemed to ride the waves that are inevitable in any marriage that spans nearly seven decades; through good and bad, they were partners and best friends.But lately — ever since her hospitalization...
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In Europe, a Push for Higher Phone Fees

BERLIN — When the authorities have tinkered with European telecommunications rules, it has usually been to lower prices for consumers, whether through retail price controls on mobile roaming fees or mandatory cuts in regulated interconnection charges. But this year, to encourage more investment in high-speed broadband networks, regulators are considering helping the biggest operators...
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Darjeeling Journal: Darjeeling Tea Growers Get Protection From E.U.

Enrico Fabian for The New York TimesA woman on the Sungma Tea Estate in Darjeeling, India, where growers have followed the example of Scottish whisky distillers and French wineries in limiting the use of certain geographic names to products from those places. More Photos »DARJEELING, India — Among connoisseurs, few teas surpass a good Darjeeling. The smooth and mellow taste commands a premium price,...
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Dec
16

As Gold Is Spirited Out of Afghanistan, Officials Wonder Why

Zalmai for The New York TimesA Kabul jewelry shop. Officials are concerned about gold being flown out of Afghanistan. KABUL, Afghanistan — Packed into hand luggage and tucked into jacket pockets, roughly hewed bars of gold are being flown out of Kabul with increasing regularity, confounding Afghan and American officials who fear money launderers have found a new way to spirit funds from the country....
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Dr. William F. House, Inventor of Cochlear Implant, Dies

Dr. William F. House, a medical researcher who braved skepticism to invent the cochlear implant, an electronic device considered to be the first to restore a human sense, died on Dec. 7 at his home in Aurora, Ore. He was 89. The cause was metastatic melanoma, his daughter, Karen House, said. Dr. House pushed against conventional thinking throughout his career. Over the objections of...
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Egypt Votes on Constitution; Muslim Brotherhood Expects Approval

Lynsey Addario for The New York TimesA polling site in Cairo on Saturday. Lines were long as a referendum on an Islamist-backed charter got off to an orderly start. More Photos »CAIRO — Millions of Egyptians voted peacefully on Saturday in a referendum on an Islamist-backed draft constitution, hoping that the results would end three weeks of violence, division and distrust between the Islamists and...
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