The rest of the country is following North Carolina’s lead by sharply cutting the maximum number of weeks of unemployment benefits available, transforming the country’s safety net for jobless workers.

States Cutting Weeks of Aid to the Jobless

Investors are piling into the government debt of bailed-out countries like Ireland. But the demand comes despite the problems still plaguing the euro zone.

Investors Seek Yields in Europe, but Analysts Warn of Risk

Reassured by austerity programs, investors are again loading up on European sovereign debt, despite deep recessions across Southern Europe.

Banks Take On European Debt, Despite Underlying Problems

Puerto Rico is battling a financial crisis that includes high unemployment and a crushing debt load.

$2 Billion Deal in Works for Puerto Rico

The Knicks have aggressively and unabashedly developed a well-oiled system of cultivating and cosseting celebrity fans at Madison Square Garden.

Knicks Have a Star Magnet: Courtside Seats

An argument over movie theater etiquette between two Navy veterans led to one man’s death, a charge of murder against the other, Curtis J. Reeves Jr., and a claim of self-defense.

A Movie Date, a Text Message and a Fatal Shot

If genuine, the trove is new visual corroboration that Syria’s government is guilty of mass war crimes against its own citizens, just as it appeared to regain some international standing.

Photo Archive Is Said to Show Widespread Torture in Syria

Technology experts say China’s own Great Firewall — the country’s vast collection of censors and snooping technology used to control Internet traffic in and out of China — was most likely to blame for a huge Internet failure, mistakenly redirecting the country’s traffic.

Big Web Crash in China: Experts Suspect Great Firewall

The European Union proposed to end binding national targets for renewable energy production, substituting a goal likely to be much harder to enforce.

Europe, Facing Economic Pain, May Ease Climate Rules

A proposed rule to require child-seat manufacturers to meet minimum federal standards for side-impact crashes has been added to the Federal Register.

Car Seats to Face Crash-Test Standards

The Yankees understand there are better and cheaper ways to win, but they shelled out about $500 million this off-season after declines in attendance, television ratings and performance.

Yanks on a Budget? Yeah, Right

The Roomba 880 from iRobot has the same hockey-puck look as the previous models, but does a superior job in cleaning dust bunnies and pet hair. But the cost may scare off prospective buyers.

Robot Vacuum Makes War on Cat Hair

With hotel beds scarce at Sundance, some turn to rented group houses. With predictable results.

Bunking With the Stars at Sundance

“Perfect” by Rachel Joyce covers a lot of ground: a beautiful, obeisant mother, two kids, a car accident and maybe a scam.

An Extra 2 Seconds Means the World

Shuffleboard comes out of retirement for the younger set.

Push Comes to Shove in Brooklyn

Hilary Mantel’s best-selling novels about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII have been adapted for the stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

A Tudor Soap Opera Fills a Stage

New York City Ballet begins its six-week winter season at the David H. Koch Theater.

In the Founder’s Footsteps

Lupita Nyong’o, who is nominated for an Oscar for her role in “12 Years a Slave,” is this year’s most traditional ingénue and a front-runner for the prize.

Gaining Accolades, Friends and Steam

In “Rake,” on Fox, Greg Kinnear stars as a smart lawyer whose life just doesn’t work.

He’s a Train Wreck, but Still Kinda Cute

Intel Media was acquired by Verizon, which wants to add TV everywhere there is an Internet connection.

Verizon Plans to Buy Intel Media Division to Expand Its Television Services 

The luxury buses have become the symbol for a campaign by activists to reclaim a city they say has been appropriated by the tech elite.

Buses for Tech Workers in San Francisco Will Pay Fee

Court filings and interviews have begun to answer some longstanding questions around a Canadian company involved, however opaquely, with most American bike-sharing programs.

Bankruptcy Case Lifts Curtain on Bike-Share Operator

Corrections appearing in print on January 22, 2014.

Corrections: January 22, 2014

Quotation of the day for Wednesday, January 22, 2014.

Quotation of the Day for Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The New York Philharmonic says its 2014-15 season will include a Dvorak festival, new music, film scores, Verdi’s Requiem and Honegger’s “Joan of Arc at the Stake.”

Philharmonic Lines Up ‘Joan’ and a Dvorak Festival

Maziar Partow was one of the first Iranian cinematographers and had worked as a cameraman on numerous Iranian films. He directed a few movies and edited several more, and was most well known by his title as Director of Photography.

January 22, 2014

Headlines from January 22, 2014

States Cutting Weeks of Aid to the Jobless

Investors Seek Yields in Europe, but Analysts Warn of Risk

Banks Take On European Debt, Despite Underlying Problems

$2 Billion Deal in Works for Puerto Rico

Knicks Have a Star Magnet: Courtside Seats

Billboard 200

Frozen

Beyonce

My Own Lane

The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Pure Heroine

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for January 22, 2014