DealBook: In Deal, Bank of America Extends Retreat From Mortgages

Correction Appended9:00 p.m. | Updated Bank of America is continuing a large-scale retreat from its costly expansion into the home mortgage market, a shift that concentrates more power in the hands of its biggest rivals and leaves fewer options for some home buyers.The bank, which already has sharply scaled back in making mortgages, on Monday sold off about 20 percent of its loan servicing business...

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From gang member to team player

SAN FRANCISCO — Luis Aroche learned about violence at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School, across from the projects where his...

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The Games We're Dying to Play in 2013

Hey, 2012 is over and that whole apocalypse whatever thing didn't happen, am I right? Phew. Anyway, now that we're safely into 2013 we can look forward to a bright future full of videogames. Wired contributors Bo Moore, Ryan Rigney, John Mix Meyer, Andrew Groen and Daniel Feit join me below to discuss the games we're most hot for in the next 12 months.As you read this list, notice some things. First,...

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”Life of Pi” edges ”Hobbit” at overseas box office

LOS ANGELES, (TheWrap.com) – Fox’s “Life of Pi” was king at the overseas box office this weekend, taking in $ 60.1 million from 65 foreign markets to raises its international gross to nearly $ 302 million.The big weekend narrowly beat out “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which added another $ 57 million overseas, and raised its worldwide box office haul to nearly $ 825 million since opening on...

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Alarm in Albuquerque Over Plan to End Methadone for Inmates

Mark Holm for The New York TimesOfficials at New Mexico’s largest jail want to end its methadone program. Addicts like Penny Strayer hope otherwise. ALBUQUERQUE — It has been almost four decades since Betty Jo Lopez started using heroin. Her face gray and wizened well beyond her 59 years, Ms. Lopez would almost certainly still be addicted, if not for the fact that she is locked away in jail,...

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DealBook: After Madoff, Financial Fraud Defies Policing

LOS ANGELES — To Philip Horn, the Braemar Country Club was not just a golf course, it was an extension of his office. Most weeks, Mr. Horn, a financial adviser at Wells Fargo, chatted up potential clients between holes at the upscale club set against the backdrop of the Santa Monica Mountains.“I always thought, ‘This is a great guy and a straight shooter,’ ” said Barry Zelner, one of several country...

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NHL, union reach tentative agreement

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly speak to reporters in New York last month. ...

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Looney Gas and Lead Poisoning: A Short, Sad History

Author’s note: Most people don’t realize that we knew in the 1920s that leaded gasoline was extremely dangerous. And in light of a Mother Jones story this week that looks at the connection between leaded gasoline and crime rates in the United States, I thought it might be worth reviewing that history. The following is an updated version of an earlier post based on information from my book...

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”Zero Dark Thirty” screenplay among Writers Guild nominees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The writers of controversial Osama bin Laden thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” and of the presidential drama “Lincoln” won nominations on Friday for the Writers Guild Awards, as momentum built in Hollywood ahead of the Oscars in February.The screenplays for Iran hostage drama “Argo,” cult movie “The Master,” quirky comedy “Silver Linings Playbook,” and shipwreck tale “Life of Pi”...

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Despite New Health Law, Some See Sharp Rise in Premiums

Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles TimesDave Jones, the California insurance commissioner, said some insurance companies...

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