As human remains are linked to people killed at the World Trade Center, family members continue to receive a series of unpredictable and heart-rending notifications.

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With Remains From 9/11 Still Being Identified, No End to Grieving

President Obama’s announcement Friday of the withdrawal of nearly all troops from Iraq by Dec. 31 and an end to the U.S. war in Iraq marks a bittersweet moment for many of the families of the more than 4,400 American service members who lost their lives in the conflict. The organization Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors predicted that the next several months will prove “emotionally challenging” to family members, bringing back painful memories for many. “The final withdrawal of troops from Iraq drives home the finality of death to a family,” TAPS said in a statement Friday. Read full article > >

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For families of fallen, a bittersweet day

She sees her daughter in pieces, in features dispersed throughout the family members who are still here. Richard has the tiny mole above the right corner of his mouth. Sometimes Valencia touches it, lightly, the way she used to touch the mole on his mother’s face, before she disappeared. U’Andre’ has his mother’s wiggling feet, the ones Valencia used to dress up in white leather booties. She still has the booties. They are on her kitchen table in Temple Hills. They are unscuffed. Her daughter never scuffed them because Valencia never put her down, because when her daughter was born, Valencia looked at her and thought: “I can’t believe I made this. I made this , this special baby.” Read full article > >

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A young mother, gone without a trace

SHANGHAI – On the first Saturday in September, about 50 well-off Chinese crowded into a fourth-floor conference room in a high-rise on fashionable Nanjing Road to listen in hushed silence to an unusual sales pitch. For a mere $500,000 investment, they were told, the participants could receive a coveted American “green card” to allow them and their family members to live in the United States. Read full article > >

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Md. casino developer courts wealthy Chinese by offering green cards in exchange for $500,000 investment

Not long ago, when my father was about to undergo a heart procedure, I hinted to the cardiologist, a colleague, that I wanted to be there, too, not just to offer comfort but also to be present for the play-by-play that would lead to a critical decision: whether to open his blocked arteries with a stent or to perform bypass surgery. Draped in an X-ray-shielding body suit over his blue scrubs, the doctor hesitated. I understand why. I’ve stood in his shoes and listened to family members say they want to be present 24/7 with their loved ones, often in the most challenging of hospital environments, such as the intensive care unit. Read full article > >

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Intensive care units grow more friendly to patients’ families at some hospitals

The recession pushed more people in the Washington area into living with relatives and friends, according to new census figures showing a sharp rise in families who have taken in adult children, siblings, parents and roommates. Almost 1.2 million of the region’s 6 million residents were living with extended family members and friends last year, a 33 percent rise over the past decade. Nationwide, according to recently released 2010 Census statistics, at least 54 million people are in a similar spot. Read full article > >

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Recession pushes more in D.C. area to live with relatives

A little-known group of World War II veterans had a lot to share Saturday at their last official meeting of Prometheans Inc. Veterans — most of them nearing 90 — friends and family members made toasts and speeches at the group’s banquet in Silver Spring. D.C. chapter President Friason Travis, 90, called the organization a “guiding light and power.” The Prometheans, as they call themselves, are similar to the Tuskegee Airmen in that they were among the African Americans who fought for their country in World War II. But they weren’t master aviators and never swooped down on enemy fighter planes during the heat of battle, which may be the reason why their name may not sound familiar to most. Read full article > >

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World War II black veterans group disbands, but friendships remain

A little-known group of World War II veterans had a lot to share Saturday at their last official meeting of Prometheans Inc. Veterans — most of them nearing 90 — friends and family members made toasts and speeches at the group’s banquet in Silver Spring. D.C. chapter President Friason Travis, 90, called the organization a “guiding light and power.” The Prometheans, as they call themselves, are similar to the Tuskegee Airmen in that they were among the African Americans who fought for their country in World War II. But they weren’t master aviators and never swooped down on enemy fighter planes during the heat of battle, which may be the reason why their name may not sound familiar to most. Read full article > >

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World War II black veterans group disbands, but friendships remain

A little-known group of World War II veterans had a lot to share Saturday at their last official meeting of Prometheans Inc. Veterans — most of them nearing 90 — friends and family members made toasts and speeches at the group’s banquet in Silver Spring. D.C. chapter President Friason Travis, 90, called the organization a “guiding light and power.” The Prometheans, as they call themselves, are similar to the Tuskegee Airmen in that they were among the African Americans who fought for their country in World War II. But they weren’t master aviators and never swooped down on enemy fighter planes during the heat of battle, which may be the reason why their name may not sound familiar to most. Read full article > >

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World War II black veterans group disbands, but friendships remain

In Kyung-sook Shin’s novel, family members suffer guilt and regret when their matriarch goes missing in a Seoul subway station.

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A Woman Goes Missing in Seoul

Seven Palestinians – including several family members – die in two Israeli attacks in Gaza, doctors say, amid the worst violence for years.

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Strikes on Gaza ‘kill children’

New York City’s mayor, together with family members and friends of shooting victims, urged a better background check system for gun buyers.

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Bloomberg Pushes Stricter Gun Control Measures

A horrifying story out of Fort Wayne, Indiana: After family members reported that Latisha Ann Lawson, 31, and her two children were missing, police tracked Lawson down-at which point she confessed that she had fed her 3-year-old son oil and vinegar…

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Indiana Mom Hid Son’s Body for a Year

After a weekend of deliberation, jurors in Connecticut on Monday are set to continue weighing the fate of a man convicted of killing three family members in a brutal 2007 home invasion.

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Petit family killer may hear fate today

More than 400 celebrities, fans, friends and family members gathered to say goodbye to Tony Curtis at a public funeral service in Las Vegas honouring his life.

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Hundreds attend Tony Curtis’s funeral