Damascus, Mormon Boy Scouts, and Perez Hilton
Now that The New York Times pay wall is live, you only get 10 free clicks a month. For those worried about hitting their limit, we're taking a look through the paper each morning to find the stories that can make your clicks count.
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Top Stories: The Syrian conflict has arrived in Damascus "the center of Bashar al-Assad’s power," which once had a nightlife scene, and is now all but deserted after dark.
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World: The Jimmy Savile scandal in Britain, focusing on a beloved icon now accused of molesting underage girls, has embroiled "some of Britain’s most important institutions" including the BBC, which is under fire for hypocrisy.
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U.S.: The Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts have a relationship dating back to 1913 and "has embraced scouting wholesale, giving it a central role in preparing male youths for their two-year missionary stints and adulthood as lay priests."
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New York: The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner Thursday "will give Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney a chance to show voters that they can also be gracious and human," even amid controversy over the president's views that don't align with the Catholic Church's.
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Business: The Drug Enforcement Administration is targeting distributors, "middlemen," to fight their war on the abuse of painkillers and the distributors are "are scrambling to limit their liability by more closely monitoring their distribution pipelines and cutting off some customers."
Sports: Alex Rodriguez is now facing the growing perception that he could be at the end of his time in New York "against all economic odds."
Opinion: Gail Colins on gender and the debate: "it was a little weird that the two men vied for female favor by interrupting and barking at one another like a Worst Boyfriend."
Television: Rory Kennedy's documentary tribute to her mother titled Ethel is, according to Alessandra Stanley, "is tone-deaf and maddeningly incomplete. Watching it is a little like reading a classified report redacted by Dick Cheney — so much material is blacked out that it’s almost impossible to follow."
Fashion & Style: Perez Hilton, the gossip monger who tested the patience of publicists, seeks to reform his nasty ways—at least a little.