Sign of a Comeback: U.S. Carmakers Are Hiring

Tony Dejak/Associated PressJoseph R. Hinrichs, head of Ford's Americas region, with a two-liter EcoBoost engine at the Cleveland plant. DETROIT — A few years ago, American automakers cut tens of thousands of jobs and shut dozens of factories simply to survive. But since the recession ended and General Motors and Chrysler began to recover with the help of hefty government bailouts and bankruptcy...

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Vleteren Journal: Cult Beer Westvleteren 12 Gives Belgian Town a Lift

Jock Fistick for The New York TimesA bar near St. Sixtus, where monks make Westvleteren 12, rated by some as the world’s best. VLETEREN, Belgium — On the face of it, this quaint Belgian town has few attractions — a charming brick parish church; a tall wooden windmill at the town’s main intersection. But it has the world’s best beer. In the past few years, several Web sites that ask beer drinkers...

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Rapper Ja Rule set to leave NY prison in gun case

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Platinum-selling rapper Ja Rule was set to leave an upstate prison on Thursday after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession but head straight into federal custody in a tax case.The rapper, who had been in protective custody at the Mid-State Correctional Facility because of his celebrity, has some time remaining on a 28-month sentence for tax evasion, correction...

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In Reversal, Florida to Take Health Law’s Medicaid Expansion

MIAMI — Gov. Rick Scott of Florida reversed himself on Wednesday and announced that he would expand his state’s Medicaid program to cover the poor, becoming the latest — and, perhaps, most prominent — Republican critic of President Obama’s health care law to decide to put it into effect. It was an about-face for Mr. Scott, a former businessman who entered politics as a critic of Mr. Obama’s...

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The Trade: A Revolving Door in Washington With Spin, but Less Visibility

Obsess all you’d like about President Obama’s nomination of Mary Jo White to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Who heads the agency is vital, but important fights in Washington are happening in quiet rooms, away from the media gaze.After a widely praised stint as a tough United States attorney, Ms. White spent the last decade serving so many large banks and investment houses that by the...

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Bulgarian Government Is Reported Set to Resign

The government of Bulgaria will resign Wednesday afternoon following a week of sometimes violent protests, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said in a surprise announcement to Parliament. "The people gave us power and today we are returning it," he said, according to local news reports. The mass protests were triggered by electricity price increases and corruption scandals, including one over...

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Police say NY TV anchor threatened wife with death

A New York City TV anchorman issued a death threat against his wife as he was being arrested on charges of attacking her at their Connecticut home, according to a court document released Tuesday.New York City police, meanwhile, disclosed that they were called 11 times to the couple's home when they lived in Manhattan. One call resulted in an arrest, but the case was sealed, they said.In the Connecticut...

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Well: No Consensus on Plantar Fasciitis

Phys EdGretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.There are more charismatic-sounding sports injuries than plantar fasciitis, like tennis elbow, runner’s knee and turf toe. But there aren’t many that are more common. The condition, characterized by stabbing pain in the heel or arch, sidelines up to 10 percent of all runners, as well as countless soccer, baseball, football and basketball players,...

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Boeing Engineers Approve Pact, but Tech Workers Say No

SEATTLE (AP) — The union representing Boeing Co.'s engineers and technical workers delivered a split decision on a new contract Tuesday, with the engineers accepting their offer and the technical workers rejecting theirs and authorizing a future strike. The union had recommended that both units reject the contract offer because it would not provide pensions to new employees. They would have...

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Pistorius Returns to Court Seeking Bail on Murder Charge

PRETORIA, South Africa — Prosecutors accused Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee track star, of premeditated murder on Tuesday, saying he opened fire four times on his girlfriend through a closed bathroom door after putting on his prosthetic legs and walking more than 20 feet from a bedroom. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Reeva Steenkamp, the victim, had been in a tiny room measuring roughly...

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