Dutch Put Electric Cars to the Test

AMSTERDAM — When Patrick Langevoort’s company issued him an electric vehicle two years ago, the first months were filled with misadventure: he found himself far from Amsterdam, with only a 25 percent charge remaining, unable to find the charging point listed on a map. Though the car was supposed to travel 100 miles on a full battery, he discovered that cold weather and fast driving decreased that...

Read More..

Katy Perry (Sort Of) Steals Spotlight at Bruce Springsteen Pre-Grammy Tribute

By Patrick Gomez and Marisa Laudadio 02/09/2013 at 11:45 AM EST Katy Perry at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala Lester Cohen/WireImage It may have been a tribute to Bruce Springsteen but Katy Perry seemed to be the main attraction for some at Friday's MusiCares Person of the Year tribute...

Read More..

After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

Read More..

State fires contractor on tech project

SACRAMENTO – The state has fired the contractor on one of its biggest and most troubled technology projects after deep problems...

Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: 'Downton Abbey' vs. 'Girls': Who's Happier?

BROOKLYN — Can we have too much freedom?Page TwoPosts written by the IHT’s Page Two columnists.That’s the question behind my latest Currents column, where I discuss what “Downton Abbey” and “Girls,” two wildly popular television shows set 100 years apart, have to tell us about ourselves and our society — especially when it comes to personal freedom and its consequences.What begins on ‘‘Downton’’ as...

Read More..

Mariska Hargitay Loves Her Curves from Motherhood

By Andrea Billups 02/08/2013 at 11:15 AM EST Mariska Hargitay Courtesy Ladies Home Journal Motherhood and the perspective of age have helped Mariska Hargitay become a more confident – and fulfilled – woman and actress.The longtime Law & Order: Special Victims...

Read More..

Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.Blacks were five times more likely than whites...

Read More..

Bar trivia is more than just fun and games

The door to the bar in Palms swung open, and strains of the theme from "Rocky III" burst into the street: "It's the eye of the...

Read More..

Lens Blog: Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen's Photos of Her Newcastle Neighborhood

On clear days in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, a small yet bustling working-class city in northeast England, the view from the hills of Byker can be spectacular. That shabby neighborhood’s rows of brick houses and terraced streets overlook a historic city center, the river and sometimes far beyond.Those vistas were rare in 1969, when Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, a 21-year-old Finnish photographer, arrived. The...

Read More..

Cam Gigandet Welcomes a Son - Rekker Radley

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 02/07/2013 at 11:00 AM ET Pacific Coast News It’s a boy!Cam Gigandet and his fiancée Dominique Geisendorff welcomed their second child on Wednesday, Jan. 23, his rep confirms to JustJared.com.Son Rekker Radley Gigandet, who weighed in at 9 lbs. 9 oz., joins the couple’s...

Read More..

New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have discovered the first U.S. cases of whooping cough caused by a germ that may be resistant to the vaccine.Health officials are looking into whether cases like the dozen found in Philadelphia might be one reason the nation just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. The new bug was previously reported in Japan, France and Finland."It's quite intriguing....

Read More..

Police on high alert after ex-LAPD cop's alleged serial shootings

Authorities across Southern California were on high alert Thursday morning as a massive manhunt was underway for an ex-Los Angeles police officer sought in connection with a double homicide and the shootings of three police officers, one of whom was killed.Local, state and federal authorities are involved in the search for Christoper Jordan Dorner, 33, who threatened "unconventional and...

Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: 'Rigoletto' in Vegas, 'Manon Lescaut' in the Metro

BRUSSELS—The day after the Metropolitan Opera in New York unveiled a production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” set in Las Vegas during the 1960s, I was in Belgium, where another exercise in operatic updating is underway at the Théâtre royal de la Monnaie. Here, Mariusz Trelinski’s staging of Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” — through Feb. 8 — situates the opera in the waiting room of a subway station.Opera goers...

Read More..

Nate Berkus Told His Dad That He Was Born Gay - It Wasn't a Choice

Design star Nate Berkus says gaining his father's trust and respect as he explained that he was born gay – and it wasn't a choice – changed their relationship and helped him move forward in his life. Berkus, speaking candidly to his mentor, Oprah Winfrey on her Super Soul Sunday series, opened up in a two-part interview, sharing the emotional moments that came with discussing his sexuality....

Read More..

Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until...

Read More..

Kids sever fingers during game of tug-of-war at school

About L.A. NowL.A. Now is the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news section for Southern California. It is produced by more than 80 reporters and editors in The Times’ Metro section, reporting from the paper’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters as well as bureaus in Costa Mesa, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, Ventura and West Los Angeles.Have a story tip for L.A. Now?Can I call...

Read More..

At War Blog: Remembering Chris Kyle, a Deadly American Sniper

In the fall of 2006, my infantry platoon gathered in a dusty patrol base in Baghdad to watch our own being killed in fuzzy, pixilated video clips. An insurgent sniper named Juba was terrorizing Baghdad with precise and methodical shots at allied troops, and it was all captured on film. A soldier in a turret falls in a puff of smoke. Another soldier standing along a road is shot in the head.“Don’t...

Read More..

Bullying study: It does get better for gay teens

CHICAGO (AP) — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time.The seven-year study involved more than 4,000 teens in England who were questioned yearly through 2010, until they were 19 and 20 years old. At the...

Read More..

Mystery after basketball coach, fiance murdered in parking lot

Family and friends had only praise for a Cal State Fullerton coach and her fiance Monday, a day after the recently engaged college sweethearts were found fatally shot in the parking structure of their condominium near UC Irvine.The bodies of Monica Quan, an assistant women's basketball coach, and Keith Lawrence, who worked as a campus officer at USC, were discovered Sunday night in their...

Read More..

The Lede Blog: Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani Girl Shot by Taliban Militants, Speaks in New Videos

Last Updated, 12:09 p.m. Speaking on camera for the first time since she survived an assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban last year, the young activist Malala Yousafzai began with the words, “Today you can see that I’m alive.” The 15-year-old, who was shot in the head as she left school in the Pakistan’s Swat Valley four months ago, promised that she would continue to be an outspoken advocate...

Read More..

The Future of BlackBerry 10 Sales Looks Hazy

Early sales figures from abroad suggest high demand for one of BlackBerry‘s two big comeback phones… in the struggling Canadian company’s strongest market. As the U.S. market remains on standby for sales and even ads, reports from both analysts and suppliers suggest sold-out new models in the United Kingdom, the first and only place the BlackBerry Z10 is available yet. “We believe Carphone...

Read More..

Richard III's Remains Confirmed After Being Found Under a Parking Lot

By Stephen M. Silverman 02/04/2013 at 11:25 AM EST "Off with his head!" – Shakespeare's King Richard III, Act III, Scene IV.In a stunning archaeological discovery, British scientists announced Monday that DNA results confirm "beyond reasonable doubt" that the human remains found under a parking lot in Leicester, central England, are those...

Read More..

Bullying study: It does get better for gay teens

CHICAGO (AP) — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time.The seven-year study involved more than 4,000 teens in England who were questioned yearly through 2010, until they were 19 and 20 years old. At the...

Read More..

Priest molested girl who wore Snow White costume, records show

More disturbing stories of priests' molestations of children -- and questionable actions by church leaders -- emerged in 12,000 pages of once-confidential personnel files. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles posted the documents on its website Thursday night, an hour after a Los Angeles judge ended 5-1/2 years of legal wrangling over the release of the files with an order compelling...

Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: Doctors to Prescribe Self-Help Books, Poetry for Mental Health Ills

LONDON — Doctors in England will soon be prescribing books as well as pills to patients suffering from anxiety and depression.In a government-endorsed initiative supported by medical associations and librarians, physicians will be sending patients to their local libraries for a range of approved self-help titles targeted at those suffering from mild to moderate mental health problems.Patients are...

Read More..