Advertisements for the CBS newsmagazine show “60 Minutes” once boasted that for anyone hiding a secret, four of the most dreaded words in the English language were “Mike Wallace is here.” As the biggest star of the longest-running, highest-rated, most influential news show since its 1968 debut, Mr. Wallace helped define television journalism with an adversarial interviewing style that was as admired as it was feared. Read full article > >

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Mike Wallace dies: Veteran journalist and former ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent was 93

The prize in a US lottery has reached $540m (£340m) and organisers say this is the biggest lottery jackpot in history.

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VIDEO: Is Mega Millions jackpot too big?

Remember derivatives? The financial products that Warren Buffett compared to weapons of mass destruction? The ones that were at the heart of the financial crisis? Well, they’ve been doing just fine. As recently as last spring, banks were increasing their derivatives’ holdings. But that may be changing. In the second half of 2011, the total value of derivatives contracts by insured U.S. commercial declined by 0.6 percent—the “first year-over-year decline on record,” according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The decline continued through the last quarter of 2011, when the notional value of derivatives experienced the biggest drop-off in history, falling by $17 trillion. Read full article > >

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Is Wall Street already shrinking?

“The Hunger Games” took in a record $155 million at North American box offices over the weekend, setting up what promises to be one of the biggest film franchises of this decade.

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‘Hunger Games’ Breaks Box-Office Records

DETROIT — Once thought an easy win for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the Michigan Republican primary is shaping up to be one of the biggest tests yet for Romney’s presidential hopes — and an unexpected opportunity for the surging campaign of former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum. Read full article > >

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Mitt Romney faces major test in Michigan primary, once thought an easy win

U.S. farmers will plant the most acres in a generation this year, led by the biggest corn crop since World War II, taking advantage of the highest agricultural prices in at least four decades. They will sow corn, soybeans and wheat on 226.9 million acres, the most since 1984, a Bloomberg survey of 36 farmers, bankers and analysts showed. The 2.5 percent gain means an expansion the size of New Jersey as growers target fields left fallow last year and land freed up from conservation programs. Read full article > >

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Farmers to plant most acres since 1984, prompted by higher crop prices

BRUSSELS Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan . But his biggest worry is the growing possibility that Israel will attack Iran militarily over the next few months. Read full article > >

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Is Israel preparing to attack Iran?

All but one household in Sodeto, Spain, held at least a piece of a winning ticket in the Christmas lottery’s huge first prize of $950 million, the biggest ever.

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Sodeto Journal: Tiny Village of Sodeto Wins Big in Spain’s Lottery

There was snowshoeing for the younger folks, and spectacular skiing for all. There was free booze and wine each night, courtesy of mega-corporations like Google, McKinsey, KPMG, Deloitte, and Ernst and Young. Perhaps the biggest hit: You could try driving an Audi on a sheet of ice and snow. Read full article > >

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What really happens in Davos

Applications are due to open for custom top-level domain names in what is the biggest change to the web address system in over two decades.

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Web domains face major overhaul

Metro proposes to increase bus and rail fares by about 5 percent, raise parking rates and eliminate a controversial rush-hour surcharge this summer to overcome a $116 million shortfall in its next operating budget. Riders who use paper Farecards would face the biggest change. Whether going two stops or 10, they would pay one-way flat fares: $6 during rush hour, $4 in off-peak times. For a group traveling together, hailing a taxi might quickly become more palatable. Read full article > >

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Metro proposes 5 percent fare increase

A regional breakdown of new car registrations has shown that sales in Northern Ireland fell 11.7% in 2011 – the biggest drop of any UK region.

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Car sales figures drop most in NI

When you’re named after one of the biggest constellations in the night sky, the pressure is on to display a little star power — and the young pianist Orion Weiss did exactly that in a high-powered and often ferocious recital Saturday afternoon at the Terrace Theater. Weiss has been racking up an impressive string of triumphs lately (he filled in at the last minute for an ailing Leon Fleischer last summer, turning in a raved-about performance with the Boston Symphony), and Saturday’s recital showed why. Just 30, the pianist has an exceptionally clean technique with virtuosity to spare. And although Saturday’s program — which revolved around a selection of demanding toccatas — sometimes fell a little flat emotionally, it showed Weiss to be a gifted musician well worth keeping an eye on. Read full article > >

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Orion Weiss at Terrace Theater

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — In what could be the biggest change in a decade in a relationship that has been a mainstay of U.S. military and counterterrorism policy since the 9/11 terror attacks, the United States and Pakistan are lowering expectations for what the two nations will do together and planning for a period of more limited contact. Read full article > >

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Redefined Pakistan-US relationship means less cooperation, lower expectations

You can watch “The Biggest Loser” on television. Or you can live it, at a resort where guests are prodded and pushed and left panting.

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My Week at the Biggest Loser Fat Camp