New York Plans to Ban Sale of Big Sizes of Sugary Drinks

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Wednesday with Linda I. Gibbs, deputy mayor for health, as he discussed a plan to ban large sugary beverages. Next to each soda is the amount of sugar in it.

New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

'Livermorium' is new atomic element name

Livermore on Thursday achieved a new degree of lasting fame when an international body officially approved Livermorium as the name for element 116 with the symbol Lv.

Livermorium honors Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the city of Livermore, the lab announced in a news release.

At the same time, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially agreed that element 114 would be called Flerovium, noted as Fl.

Snigdha Nandipati spells 'guetapens' to win 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee has crowned a champion - 14-year-old Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California. The girl, whose extended family had flown in from India to watch her compete, won in Round 13 on the word "guetapens," which is derived from French and means "an ambush, snare or trap."

The bee came down to two female spellers, Nandipati and Stuti Mishra, who misspelled "schwarmerei" in Round 12, leaving the door open for Nandipati if she spelled her next word correctly.

PayPal signs online payment deals with 15 retailers

PayPal Inc. says 15 retailers, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Office Depot and Jamba Juice, are adding its online payment system in their stores.

PayPal, which is owned by eBay Inc.    (Nasdaq: EBAY), already is in place in about 2,000 Home Depot (NYSE: HD) locations nationwide.

This week, the company announced that its payment system also will be available at Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP), Aéropostale (NYSE: ARO), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), Guitar Center Inc., Jamba Inc.    (Nasdaq: JMBA), J.C. Penney Co. Inc.    (NYSE: JCP), Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc.    (Nasdaq: JOSB), Nine West, Office Depot Inc.    (NYSE: ODP), Rooms To Go    , Tiger Direct and Toys “R” Us.

What's Really Behind Europe's Decline? It's The Birth Rates, Stupid

The labor demonstrators, now an almost-daily occurrence in Madrid and other economically-devastated southern European cities lambast austerity and budget cuts as the primary  cause for their current national crisis. But longer-term, the biggest threat to the European Union has less to do with government policy than what is–or is not–happening in the bedroom.

In particular, southern Europe’s economic disaster is both reflected — and is largely caused by — a demographic decline that, if not soon reversed, all but guarantees the continent’s continued slide. For decades, the wealthier countries of the northern countries — notably Germany — have offset very low fertility rates and declining domestic demand by attracting migrants from other countries, notably from eastern and southern Europe, and building highly productive export oriented economies.

Google to Require Retailers to Pay

Google Inc., GOOG -1.25% in a move to squeeze more cash out of its lucrative Web-search engine, is converting its free product-search service into a paid one.

Online retailers will now have to bid to display their products on Google's Shopping site. Currently, retailers include their products for free by providing Google with certain data about the products. Google then ranks those products, such as cameras, by popularity and price.

"Google Shopping will empower businesses of all sizes to compete effectively—and it will help shoppers turn their intentions into actions lightning fast," wrote Sameer Samat, a Google vice president, in a statement.

The Rock is Kicking Ass and Saving Franchises

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s formula for box office success is twofold: “I can kick ass better than anyone on the planet,” he says. “And I have a decent smile.”

Russian Church Is a Strong Voice Opposing Intervention in Syria

Pool photo by Alexander Nemenov

Russian Orthodox Church priests at a gathering in Moscow. 

MOSCOW — As the West sought to pressure the Kremlin recently to help stop the killing in Syria, diplomats from Damascus were ushered into the heart of one of Russian Orthodoxy’s main shrines.