DealBook: HSBC Sells Stake in Chinese Insurer for $9.4 Billion

HONG KONG — HSBC Holdings, one of Europe’s biggest banks, said Wednesday it would sell its entire stake in a leading Chinese insurer to a Thai conglomerate for 72.7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($9.4 billion.)HSBC said it would sell its 15.6 percent stake in Ping An Insurance, based in Shenzhen, to the Charoen Pokphand Group, controlled by the Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, in a deal to be financed...

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With Some Hospitals Closed After Hurricane Sandy, Others Pick Up Slack

A month after Hurricane Sandy struck New York City, unexpectedly shutting down several hospitals, one Upper East Side medical center had so many more emergency room patients than usual that it was parking them in its lobby. White and blue plastic screens had been set up between the front door and the elevator banks in the East 68th Street building of that hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill...

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Larissa Journal: Greek Brothel Owner Rescues Larissa Soccer Club

Angelos Tzortzinis for The New York TimesMs. Alevridou's support of Voukefalas has caused an uproar. LARISSA, Greece — Her soccer club looked ragged. Strikers jumped up for headers only to miss the ball entirely. Players tumbled over one another, shouting out accusations that they had been fouled. But in the bleachers, Soula Alevridou, or “Madam Soula,” as she is known in these parts, watched...

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‘The Daily’ doomed by dull content and isolation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was too expensive. It lacked editorial focus. And for a digital publication, it was strangely cut off from the Internet. That’s the obituary being written in real time through posts, tweets and online chats about The Daily, the first-of-its-kind iPad newspaper that is being shut down this month.Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp. said Monday that The Daily will publish its final issue...

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RG3, Redskins closing in on Giants with 17-16 win

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Robert Griffin III threw for one touchdown and had a fumble turn into another score, and the Washington Redskins pulled within one game of the NFC East lead with a 17-16 win over the New York Giants on Monday night.The Redskins improved to 6-6 with their third straight victory, tied with the Dallas Cowboys and on the heels of the Giants, who have lost three of four to fall to...

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Deficit Talks Stumble Over Down Payment

Alex Wong/Getty ImagesSenator Kent Conrad in Washington last month. He sees “confusion between the initial down payment and the framework.” WASHINGTON — For all the growing angst over the state of negotiations to head off a fiscal crisis in January, the parties are farthest apart on a relatively small part of the overall deficit reduction program — the down payment. President Obama and the...

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Call That Kept Nursing Home Patients in Sandy’s Path

Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesWorkers were shocked that nursing and adult homes in areas like Rockaway Park, Queens, weren’t evacuated. Hurricane Sandy was swirling northward, four days before landfall, and at the Sea Crest Health Care Center, a nursing home overlooking the Coney Island Boardwalk in Brooklyn, workers were gathering medicines and other supplies as they prepared to evacuate. ...

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Carbon Dioxide Emissions Hit Record in 2011, Researchers Say

Global emissions of carbon dioxide were at a record high in 2011 and are likely to take a similar jump in 2012, scientists reported Sunday — the latest indication that efforts to limit such emissions are failing. Emissions continue to grow so rapidly that an international goal of limiting the ultimate warming of the planet to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, established three years ago, is on the...

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Notre Dame vs. Alabama: Star power, power football

NEW YORK (AP) — On one side, a blossoming dynasty from the college football capital of the Deep South. On the other, the sport's most famous team, trying to reclaim its place among the elite.Notre Dame and Alabama bring star power and power football to the BCS championship.The matchup became official Sunday night when the final standings were released and, to no one's surprise, the Fighting Irish...

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Disruptions: Silencing the Voices of Militants on Twitter

Twitter, perhaps more than any other social media outlet, has become one of the most powerful tools to promote democracy in the Middle East.The service, which helped Arab Spring protesters in their drive for a new order in the region, is now under attack over aiding and abetting terrorist organizations.Along with six other Republican lawmakers, Representative Ted Poe, a judge turned Texas Congressman,...

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