Medicare’s Chief Actuary, Richard Foster, Retiring

Carol T. Powers for The New York TimesRichard S. Foster testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee in 2004 WASHINGTON — Richard S. Foster, who as chief actuary of the Medicare program for the last 18 years nettled presidents of both parties with his projections of rapid growth in federal health care spending, will retire next month, the Obama administration said Friday. Mr. Foster,...

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E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights

There's a crass old joke about how you can never buy beer, just rent it. Who would think that the same joke applies to book buying in the digital age?But that's the case. Many people who'll be unwrapping iPads, Amazon Kindles or Barnes & Noble Nooks on Tuesday morning and loading them with bestsellers or classics won't have any idea how limited...

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LAPD investigation of killing hobbled by DEA

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has refused for more than two years to allow its agents to cooperate with a Los Angeles...

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North Korean Video Game Has Western Ties

Video games represent a true luxury for most North Koreans living in a country where even the elite have only hours of electricity each day. That has not stopped a Western company in the capital city of Pyonyang from creating what may be the first North Korean game widely available online.The game, called “Pyongyang Racer,” is a simple Web browser game that allows players to drive a car around North...

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Country singer Tate Stevens wins Fox's 'X Factor'

NEW YORK (AP) — Tate Stevens, who was mentored by music exec L.A. Reid on the second season of "The X Factor," has won the Fox singing competition.The 37-year-old country singer from Belton, Mo., beat runner-up Carly Rose Sonenclar, a 13-year-old schoolgirl from Westchester, N.Y., and teenage girl group Fifth Harmony on the finale that aired live Thursday night.Stevens wins a $5 million recording...

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Stigma Fading, Marijuana Common in California

Jim Wilson/The New York TimesAt a San Francisco concert in 2010, marijuana use was general while signatures were collected for a measure to decriminalize it. LOS ANGELES — Let Colorado and Washington be the marijuana trailblazers. Let them struggle with the messy details of what it means to actually legalize the drug. Marijuana is, as a practical matter, already legal in much of California. ...

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U.S. economic growth in third quarter is revised upward

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew faster in the third quarter than previously thought, but the last three months of the year...

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New chief of California's prisons named

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday named a vocal advocate of shorter sentences and community treatment to run the state's...

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Kodak in $525 million patent deal, eyes bankruptcy end

(Reuters) – Eastman Kodak Co agreed to sell its digital imaging patents for about $ 525 million, a key step to bringing the photography pioneer out of bankruptcy in the first half of 2013.The deal for the 1,100 patents allows Kodak to fulfill a condition for securing $ 830 million in financing.The patent deal was reached with a consortium led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp, and which includes...

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Miss USA Olivia Culpo is crowned Miss Universe

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 20-year-old beauty queen from Rhode Island was crowned the new Miss Universe on Wednesday, beating out 88 other women during a televised competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip.Olivia Culpo took the crown from Leila Lopes of Angola after strutting in a purple and blue bikini and a red velvet gown.In the final stages of the competition, she answered a question...

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