Monti Resigns in Italy, but May Seek to Regain Office

ROME — Prime Minister Mario Monti resigned on Friday evening following Parliament’s confidence vote on the 2013 budget, but he is still expected to play a major role in early elections, possibly as a candidate, analysts said. At a news conference scheduled for Sunday, Mr. Monti is expected to present a political agenda — pro-Europe and pro-fiscal rigor — and call on all parties to endorse...

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The Neediest Cases: The Daughter of a Sick Woman Falls Prey to a Craigslist Scam

Sitting side by side on their living room sofa, Patricia Morales and her daughter, Katherine, could be any mother-daughter duo. Both have dark hair, dark eyes and welcoming, infectious smiles. Librado Romero/The New York TimesPatricia Morales, 62, at home in the Bronx. Her treatment for ailments like rheumatoid arthritis and hepatitis C led to depression. ...

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The Neediest Cases: The Daughter of a Sick Woman Falls Prey to a Craigslist Scam

Sitting side by side on their living room sofa, Patricia Morales and her daughter, Katherine, could be any mother-daughter duo. Both have dark hair, dark eyes and welcoming, infectious smiles. Librado Romero/The New York TimesPatricia Morales, 62, at home in the Bronx. Her treatment for ailments like rheumatoid arthritis and hepatitis C led to depression. ...

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Instagram Reversal Doesn’t Appease Everyone

Peter DaSilva for The New York TimesKevin Systrom, right, co-founder of Instagram, with employees in the company office in San Francisco last year. SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook may have quelled a full-scale rebellion by quickly dumping the contentious new terms of use for Instagram, its photo-sharing service. But even as the social network furiously backpedaled, some users said Friday they were carrying...

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The Lede Blog: Bahrain Welcomes European Delegation, Not Delegates' Calls to Free Dissidents

Last Updated, Saturday, 10:34 a.m. As The Lede reported on Wednesday, a delegation from the European Parliament visited Bahrain this week to discuss human rights, just as the kingdom jailed a rights advocate for documenting a protest on Twitter.Sic(k). Police Chief tells us number of #Bahrain protesters killed compares favourably to Tianamen Square, Egypt soccer & Los Angeles riots.— Richard Howitt...

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Op-Ed Contributor: Labs, Washed Away

BEDPAN ALLEY is the affectionate name given to a stretch of First Avenue in Manhattan that is packed with more hospitals than many cities possess. This stretch also happened to be right in the flood zone during Hurricane Sandy. Water damage and power failures closed down all three of the New York University teaching hospitals — Bellevue Hospital, Tisch Hospital and the Manhattan V.A. Two months later,...

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Syria Uses Cluster Bombs to Attack as Many Civilians as Possible

MAREA, Syria — The plane came in from the southeast late in the afternoon, releasing its weapons in a single pass. Within seconds, scores of finned bomblets struck and exploded on the homes and narrow streets of this small Syrian town. After the screams and the desperate gathering of the victims, the staff at the local Freedom Hospital counted 4 dead and 23 wounded. All were civilians, doctors...

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DealBook: Upstart Exchange in $8.2 Billion Deal for N.Y.S.E.

8:39 a.m. | Updated The owner of the 220-year-old New York Stock Exchange on Thursday agreed to an $8.2 billion deal that would give control of the longstanding symbol of American capitalism to an upstart competitor.NYSE Euronext said that it would sell itself to the IntercontinentalExchange for about $33.12 a share in cash and stock. The combined company would have headquarters in both ICE’s home...

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Female Vaccination Workers, Essential in Pakistan, Become Prey

LAHORE, Pakistan — The front-line heroes of Pakistan’s war on polio are its volunteers: young women who tread fearlessly from door to door, in slums and highland villages, administering precious drops of vaccine to children in places where their immunization campaign is often viewed with suspicion. Now, those workers have become quarry. After militants stalked and killed eight of them over...

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Female Vaccination Workers, Essential in Pakistan, Become Prey

LAHORE, Pakistan — The front-line heroes of Pakistan’s war on polio are its volunteers: young women who tread fearlessly from door to door, in slums and highland villages, administering precious drops of vaccine to children in places where their immunization campaign is often viewed with suspicion. Now, those workers have become quarry. After militants stalked and killed eight of them over...

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F.T.C. Opens an Inquiry Into Data Brokers

It’s getting tougher to be a data broker. Companies that collect, analyze and sell billions of details about the activities of consumers for marketing purposes have increasingly found themselves under government scrutiny this year. The latest salvo comes from the Federal Trade Commission, which said on Tuesday that it had opened an inquiry into the practices of nine companies that...

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French Court Refuses to Dismiss Strauss-Kahn Sex Investigation

PARIS — A French appeals court on Wednesday rejected a demand from Dominique Strauss-Kahn to dismiss an investigation of him in connection with a ring that recruited prostitutes for sex parties from Paris to Washington. His appeal was an effort to end the last of the legal problems that forced him to resign as head managing director of the International Monetary Fund and ruined his ambition...

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BBC Inquiry Blames Rigid Management for Mishandling Sex Abuse Scandal

LONDON — A report into the sexual abuse crisis that has shaken the British Broadcasting Corporation was strongly critical on Wednesday of the editorial and management decisions that led to the cancellation of a broadcast last year that would have exposed decades of sexual abuse, some of it on BBC premises, by Jimmy Savile, who had been one of Britain’s best-known television personalities. ...

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Russia Votes to Ban All Adoptions by Americans

MOSCOW — The Russian Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of a measure that would prohibit the adoption of Russian children by American citizens in retaliation for a law signed by President Obama last week that seeks to punish Russian citizens who are accused of violating human rights. The vote was 400 to 4, with 2 abstentions, and it showed a rare split opening at the highest...

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DealBook: Massachusetts Fines Morgan Stanley Over Facebook I.P.O.

10:48 a.m. | Updated Morgan Stanley is paying for its role in the troubled stock market debut of Facebook.On Monday, Massachusetts’s top financial authority fined the bank $5 million for violating securities laws, the first major regulatory action tied to Facebook’s initial public stock offering.William F. Galvin, the secretary of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, accused the bank of improperly influencing...

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The Doctor’s World: BMJ’s Holiday Tradition of Lighthearted, but Rigorous, Scholarship

LONDON — Dutch and Norwegian scientists say they have solved a glowing mystery: why Rudolph the reindeer’s nose is red. By traveling to the Arctic and using video-microscope and thermal imaging technology, the scientists showed that the glow is from tiny blood vessels that are more abundant in the noses of reindeer than in humans’. Yes, seriously. The findings are being reported next week...

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