IHT Rendezvous: Will Turkey Make Peace With the Kurds?

LONDON — There is growing optimism that a ceasefire in Turkey’s three-decade war with Kurdish guerrillas will be declared to coincide with the Kurdish New Year in three weeks.Under a draft plan reported on Wednesday, the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., would lay down its arms on March 21 and withdraw its forces from Turkish territory by August.The potential for a breakthrough in ending...

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Kathy Bates Joins American Horror Story, Ron Livingston Joins Boardwalk Empire

By Andrea Billups 02/27/2013 at 01:45 PM EST Kathy Bates and Ron Livingston Retna; WireImage Two familiar stars will join the casts of American Horror Story and Boardwalk Empire for the shows' new seasons.Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar for her frightening role...

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Vt. lye victim gets new face at Boston hospital

BOSTON (AP) — A Vermont nurse disfigured in a 2007 lye attack has received a new face at a Boston hospital.Carmen Blandin Tarleton's full facial transplant at Brigham & Women's Hospital included transplanting a female donor's facial skin to Tarleton's neck, nose and lips, along with facial muscles, arteries and nerves.Hospital officials say the 44-year-old Thetford, Vt., woman suffered burns on...

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IHT Rendezvous: Memories of Floating Over Luxor, Now Tinged With the Macabre

My 5-year-old son spent the entire hot-air balloon ride over Luxor crouched in the bottom of the basket, terrified of the flames that kept shooting into the balloon—the flames that produced the hot air that kept us afloat. He missed the glorious views: of the ancient ruins and the quilts of green grass, of the magnificent sunrise and the dancing shadows it created out of the dozens of other hot-air...

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Kim Kardashian & Kanye West Get Hot & Heavy in New Photo Shoot

02/26/2013 at 02:00 PM EST Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Nick Knight for L'Officiel Hommes (out March 4th) Kim Kardashian is turning up the heat in her latest magazine cover.The expectant mom, 32, recently sat – well, stood? – for a racy photo shoot with boyfriend...

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Wall Street up as Bernanke defends policy, warns on cuts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus before Congress, but he warned forced spending cuts that could be triggered this week represented a headwind for the economy. Gains in homebuilders and other consumer stocks, following strong economic data, kept the S&P 500 up slightly and a 5 percent...

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India Ink: ‘Life of Pi’ Shines at the Oscars

While no Indian film was up for nomination in the 85th annual Academy Awards, held Sunday night in Los Angeles, Taiwan-born Ang Lee’s win in the Best Director category for “Life of Pi’’ ensured a national connection to this year’s Oscars.The movie, based on the 2001 novel by Yann Martel, is set in the mid-1970s in the town of Pondicherry (now Puducherry), a former French colony in India. Mr. Lee shot...

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Still Got It! Seven PEOPLE's Sexiest Men Alive Hit Oscar Red Carpet

Years have passed for some of our favorites, but that didn't stop Ben Affleck, Richard Gere, Denzel Washington and more from looking stunning Credit: George Pimentel/Getty Updated: Monday Feb 25, 2013 | 01:30 PM EST Subscribe Now ...

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Dow, S&P slip after uncertain Italian election

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks mostly fell on Monday on fears that a divided parliament in Italy would get in the way of the country's reforms and hamper the euro zone's stability. Election projections showed the center-right coalition led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was leading in the race for the Italian Senate, contradicting initial exit polls and raising the specter...

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In Last Sunday Address as Pope, Benedict Says He Will Continue to Serve

Andrew Medichini/Associated PressPope Benedict XVI delivered his final Sunday address from the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square. VATICAN CITY — In his last Sunday blessing before he retires, Pope Benedict XVI reassured Catholics that he was not abandoning them but would continue to serve the church even in his retirement. Romans, pilgrims and curious tourists filled...

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