Mother’s obsessive love exposed in Romanian movie at Berlin

BERLIN (Reuters) – Actress Luminita Gheorghiu plays a domineering mother trying to save her son from jail in “Child’s Pose”, a stark family drama from Romania competing in this year’s Berlin film festival.The movie, directed by Calin Peter Netzer, shines an unforgiving light on the casual corruption and flashy materialism of post-communist Romania’s upper middle class which expects to be able to buy...

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Catholic Bishops Reject Contraception Compromise

The bishops said they would continue fighting the federal mandate in court. The administration said the proposal, issued last Friday, would guarantee free employee coverage of birth control “while respecting religious concerns” of organizations that objected to paying or providing for it. The bishops said the proposal seemed to address part of their concern about the definition of religious...

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Maker's Mark lowering proof to meet demand

In response to rapidly increasing demand for bourbon, Maker's Mark announced it is reducing the amount of alcohol in the spirit...

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Inmate held without bond in plot to kill 11-year-old girl and family

A man jailed on charges of having sex with an 11-year-old girl was ordered held without bond after he tried to hire someone to kill the girl, her 16-year-old sister...

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Day-Lewis as Lincoln seeks home triumph at BAFTAs

LONDON (Reuters) – Stilettos sank into a sodden red carpet as stars of the silver screen gathered in cold and rainy London on Sunday for the BAFTAs, with freezing fans hoping Daniel Day-Lewis would warm British hearts with a best actor win for his role in “Lincoln”.Rain turned to snow as the first nominees appeared, but the dreadful weather did not deter fans three rows deep who waited for hours to...

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For Families Struggling with Mental Illness, Carolyn Wolf Is a Guide in the Darkness

When a life starts to unravel, where do you turn for help? Melissa Klump began to slip in the eighth grade. She couldn’t focus in class, and in a moment of despair she swallowed 60 ibuprofen tablets. She was smart, pretty and ill: depression, attention deficit disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, either bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder. In her 20s, after a more...

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The fine line between legitimate businesses and pyramid schemes

Controversy is again casting a shadow over the multilevel marketing industry, as nutritional supplement company Herbalife Inc.,...

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Hadiya Pendleton funeral: 'God is our refuge'

The funeral of slain teen Hadiya Pendleton began today amid large crowds, long lines and heavy security prompted by the attendance...

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Mary J. Blige honored by Vibe at pre-Grammy party

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Babyface called her an icon; Diddy said she was like a sister; and Anita Baker credited her for helping secure her latest Grammy nomination.There was no shortage of superlatives bestowed on Mary J. Blige on Friday night as Vibe magazine celebrated the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s career, which has now spanned for more than two decades.“She’s a musical soulmate, she’s my sister, she’s...

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In Nigeria, Polio Vaccine Workers Are Killed by Gunmen

At least nine polio immunization workers were shot to death in northern Nigeria on Friday by gunmen who attacked two clinics, officials said. The killings, with eerie echoes of attacks that killed nine female polio workers in Pakistan in December, represented another serious setback for the global effort to eradicate polio. Most of the victims were women and were shot in the back of...

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