Greece Tax Scandal Shifts Focus From Collection Problem

The tax scandal that reignited in Greece over the holidays had all the makings of a grade-B drama. A former finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, was accused of scrubbing his relatives’ names from a CD containing the identities of thousands of possible Greek tax dodgers. Within hours, his chief political rival tossed him from their party. Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated PressGeorge...

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Saban: Alabama players must put aside 'clutter'

MIAMI (AP) — Days after team leaders held a players-only meeting, Alabama coach Nick Saban says the Crimson Tide's performance in Monday's BCS championship will show a lot about whether his players have put aside the "clutter" that comes with their success.Saban spoke Saturday at media day for the title game, which pits No. 2 Alabama against No. 1 Notre Dame. Alabama is favored by more than a touchdown.Saban...

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Scare Amplifies Fears That Clinton’s Work Has Taken Heavy Toll

Pool photo by Brendan SmialowskiHillary Rodham Clinton with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi in Cairo in July. WASHINGTON — When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton fractured her right elbow after slipping in a State Department garage in June 2009, she returned to work in just a few days. Her arm in a sling, she juggled speeches and a trip to India and Thailand with physical therapy, rebuilding...

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After Fiscal Deal, Tax Code May Be Most Progressive Since 1979

WASHINGTON — With 2013 bringing tax increases on the incomes of a small sliver of the richest Americans, the country’s top earners now face a heavier tax burden than at any time since Jimmy Carter was president. The last-minute deal struck by the departing 112th Congress raised taxes on a handful of the highest-earning Americans, with about 99.3 percent of households experiencing no change...

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Obama Signs Defense Bill, With Conditions

WASHINGTON — President Obama set aside his veto threat and late Wednesday signed a defense bill that imposes restrictions on transferring detainees out of military prisons in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But he attached a signing statement claiming that he has the constitutional power to override the limits in the law. The move awakened a dormant issue from Mr. Obama’s first term:...

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Chiefs, GM Pioli part ways after 4 seasons in KC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Scott Pioli is out as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, who have been negotiating the past two days with Andy Reid to become their next coach.Pioli and the team "mutually parted ways," the Chiefs said in a statement Friday. The decision came after four tumultuous seasons marked by poor draft choices, ineffective free-agent moves, failed coaching hires and a growing...

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Scant Proof Is Found to Back Up Claims by Energy Drinks

Energy drinks are the fastest-growing part of the beverage industry, with sales in the United States reaching more than $10 billion in 2012 — more than Americans spent on iced tea or sports beverages like Gatorade. Their rising popularity represents a generational shift in what people drink, and reflects a successful campaign to convince consumers, particularly teenagers, that the drinks...

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DealBook: More European Bank Loan Sales Expected

11:45 a.m. | Updated LONDON – At the start of 2013, European banks are cleaning out their closets.The Continent’s largest financial institutions, including HSBC and Deutsche Bank, are expected to sell a combined 60 billion euros, or $78 billion, of so-called noncore loans this year, a 33 percent rise compared with 2012, according to estimates from the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers released...

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Media Decoder Blog: Al Jazeera Seeks a U.S. Voice Where Gore Failed

9:16 p.m. | Updated Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news giant, has long tried to convince Americans that it is a legitimate news organization, not a parrot of Middle Eastern propaganda or something more sinister.It just bought itself 40 million more chances to make its case.Al Jazeera on Wednesday announced a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore, a former...

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NHL negotiations go late. No union disclaimer

NEW YORK (AP) — Hockey players are sticking together as a union for now and are working long and late hours with the NHL to try to reach a new collective bargaining agreement to get the game back on the ice.The sides met in small groups throughout the day Wednesday and then held a full-scale bargaining session with a federal mediator at night that lasted nearly five hours and didn't wrap up until...

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5-Hour Energy’s ‘No Crash Later’ Claim Is Disputed

The distributor of the top-selling energy “shot,” 5-Hour Energy, has long claimed on product labels, in promotions and in television advertisements that the concentrated caffeine drink produced “no crash later” — the type of letdown that consumers of energy drinks often feel when the beverages’ effects wear off. But an advertising watchdog group said on Wednesday that it had told the company...

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U.S. Auto Sales End 2012 on Strong Note

DETROIT (AP) — Strong U.S. sales in December capped a remarkable year for the auto industry — especially Japanese brands — and 2013 should be even better. Sales of new cars and trucks are expected to total around 14.5 million after all carmakers announce figures on Thursday. That is 13 percent better than 2011 and the best performance in five years. In 2012, Americans had plenty...

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Philippines May Curb Pursuit of Marcos WealthPhilippines May Curb Pursuit of Marcos Wealth

MANILA — A commission that has been pursuing the wealth of the former dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos should be abolished, despite the fact that much of his allegedly ill-gotten wealth has not been recovered, the agency’s head said on Wednesday. Andres Bautista, the chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, told reporters on Wednesday that he has recommended to President Benigno...

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Stanford holds off Wisconsin 20-14 in Rose Bowl

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Andrew Luck, Toby Gerhart and coach Jim Harbaugh started Stanford's improbable football renaissance, yet they never stood in the center of the Rose Bowl with the West Coast's most coveted trophy raised above their heads.In fact, the last Stanford team to do what the Cardinal did Tuesday night had a defense known as the Thunderchickens.Forty years after Stanford's last Rose...

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In Theory: Pill Could Join Arsenal Against Bedbugs

THE HYPOTHESIS A common deworming drug can be used to kill bedbugs.THE INVESTIGATOR Dr. Johnathan M. Sheele, Eastern Virginia Medical SchoolIt was a visit to a cousin in New York City two years ago that inspired Thang D. Tran, a medical student at Eastern Virginia Medical School, to volunteer to become a human booby trap in the war on bedbugs.“She told me everyone in New York was scared of bedbugs,”...

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The 30-Minute Interview : The 30-Minute Interview: Li Chung Pei

Mr. Pei, 63, is a founding partner, along with his brother Chien Chung Pei, of Pei Partnership Architects. The firm, based in New York, has been involved in a wide range of projects worldwide. Before starting the firm in 1992, Mr. Pei, who goes by the name Sandi, had worked at his father’s firm, I. M. Pei & Partners. Interview conducted by VIVIAN MARINO Q. You go by the...

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Residents Flee Bangui, Capital of Central African Republic

Sia Kambou/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSoldiers from Republic of Congo arrived at Central African Republic's capital Bangui Monday. A regional force is bolstering the country's troops. JOHANNESBURG — As efforts to broker a deal to stop a rebel advance failed, residents of the capital of the Central African Republic were packing up their belongings and fleeing into the country’s vast hinterlands,...

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