IHT Rendezvous: Seen From China: Fiscal Cliff Shows Democracy's Weakness

HONG KONG — With warnings – and mixed metaphors – about tripping over cans kicked down roads and bungee jumping into abysses, reactions from China to the just-struck United States’ “fiscal cliff” budget deal have been colorful – and critical.Get it together, is the message: American democracy isn’t working if politicians can’t pass national budgets on time. And the mess reduces the attractiveness...

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Apple may have sold up to 4 million iPhones to businesses in Q4

As we’ve mentioned countless times, it’s a good thing that RIM (RIMM) will release BlackBerry 10 soon, because otherwise Apple (AAPL) and Android will continue to wreck its market share among enterprise users. Benzinga reports that Trip Chowdhry, a managing director at Global Equities Research, has put out a research note estimating that Apple sold between 3 million and 4...

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Louisville upsets Florida 33-23 in Sugar Bowl

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisville safety Calvin Pryor predicted the Cardinals would "shock the world" against Florida in the Sugar Bowl.Brave words that he and his teammates backed up from start to finish.Terell Floyd returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown on the first play, dual-threat quarterback Teddy Bridgewater directed a handful of scoring drives and No. 22 Louisville stunned the fourth-ranked...

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Hillary Clinton Is Discharged From Hospital After Blood Clot

Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose globe-trotting tour as secretary of state was abruptly halted last month by a series of health problems, was discharged from a New York hospital on Wednesday evening after several days of treatment for a blood clot in a vein in her head. The news of her release was the first welcome sign in a troubling month that grounded Mrs. Clinton — preventing her from answering...

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Chevron Hits Rough Patch in Richmond, Calif.

Jim Wilson/The New York TimesCOMPANY TOWN Chevron is the biggest employer and taxpayer in Richmond, Calif., and its red oil tanks still dominate the city’s skyline 110 years after the refinery was built. RICHMOND, Calif. — The Chevron refinery’s massive oil storage tanks sit on the hills overlooking this small, impoverished city in San Francisco’s East Bay. Painted earthen red to blend with the natural...

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Used to Hardship, Latvia Accepts Austerity, and Its Pain Eases

RIGA, Latvia — When a credit-fueled economic boom turned to bust in this tiny Baltic nation in 2008, Didzis Krumins, who ran a small architectural company, fired his staff one by one and then shut down the business. He watched in dismay as Latvia’s misery deepened under a harsh austerity drive that scythed wages, jobs and state financing for schools and hospitals. But instead of taking to...

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7 Apps for Creepers

1. SneakypixEver been waiting on the train platform, minding your business, only to glance to your left and find yourself face-to-face with a grown-up nose picker? In this day and age, our first inclination is to snap a discreet photo. Sneakypix makes it appear as if you’re on a phone call, but instead, aim your camera lens at the nasal aficionado and the app will fire off a series of stealth photos...

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No. 13 FSU beats No. 16 NIU 31-10 in Orange Bowl

MIAMI (AP) — Anxious to avoid an Orange Bowl shocker, the Florida State Seminoles kept getting tricked.An onside kick fooled them, as did a fake punt, and a pooch punt by Northern Illinois' star quarterback.But the final score was no surprise. Florida State had too much speed and depth for the Huskies and pulled away for a 31-10 victory Tuesday night.Senior fullback Lonnie Pryor, voted the game's...

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Ground Zero Volunteers Face Obstacles to Compensation

On the day the terrorists flew into the World Trade Center, the Wu-Tang Clan canceled its meeting with a record mixer named Richard Oliver, so Mr. Oliver rushed downtown from his Hell’s Kitchen apartment to help out. He said he spent three sleepless days at ground zero, tossing body bags. “Then I went home, ate, crashed, woke up,” he said. He had left his Dr. Martens boots on the landing...

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Used to Hardship, Latvia Accepts Austerity, and Its Pain Eases

RIGA, Latvia — When a credit-fueled economic boom turned to bust in this tiny Baltic nation in 2008, Didzis Krumins, who ran a small architectural company, fired his staff one by one and then shut down the business. He watched in dismay as Latvia’s misery deepened under a harsh austerity drive that scythed wages, jobs and state financing for schools and hospitals. But instead of taking to...

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