Shel biz as usual

ALBANY — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday defended his decision to be featured as the “honored guest” at a fund-raiser for the chairman of a legislative ethics panel reviewing Silver’s hush settlement of Vito Lopez’s alleged sexual harassment of young staffers. “The speaker, as leader of the Democratic conference, routinely allows members to use...

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Mt. Sinai & Continuum announce merger plans

Mount Sinai Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners announced a tentative merger agreement in a bid to control costs and provide more extensive medical care to patients.The proposed marriage of two Manhattan medical behemoths comes amid continuing pressure on hospitals to comply with ObamaCare and adapt to other market forces sweeping the industry.City...

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Bronx mother-murder suspect posed with mom's severed head: sources

The twisted Bronx man who allegedly killed his mother and chopped up her body reveled in the slaying by snapping a picture of himself holding her severed head, sources told The Post yesterday.Bahsid McLean, 23, pulled out a cellphone camera, posed in front of a bathroom mirror and snapped the gruesome photo of himself smirking while holding his mother’s...

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Horror as hot air balloon catches fire in Egypt, killing 18 foreigners

LUXOR, Egypt — A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's ancient city of Luxor caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field on Tuesday, killing at least 18 foreign tourists, a security official said.It was one of the worst accidents involving tourists in Egypt and likely to push the key tourism industry deeper into recession. The casualties included French,...

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Lawrence floored by Best Actress win; 'Argo,' Daniel Day-Lewis also take home Oscars

Chris Pizzello/Invision/APActress Jennifer Lawrence stumbles as she walks on stage to accept the award for best actress in a leading role for "Silver Linings Playbook" during Sunday's Oscars ceremony.It was the rise and fall and rise of a great young star. Twenty-two-year-old “Silver Linings Playbook” star Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar for Best Actress...

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Oscar Pistorius's brother Carl faces homicide charges in 2010 car crash: report

Getty ImagesCarl Pistorius, older brother of tarnished athlete Oscar, faces homicide charges in a 2010 car crash, according to reports.Oscar Pistorius’s older brother Carl also faces homicide charges in South Africa over a 2010 car crash, it was reported today.Carl Pistorius allegedly struck and killed a female biker in the daytime crash, his lawyer told...

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$3M ‘faux’ Pollock suit

A California woman says the painting she bought for $3.1 million at an Upper East Side gallery is nothing but a bunch of worthless splatters.Frances Hamilton White filed suit in Manhattan federal court against the former Knoedler Gallery, claiming it sold phony art to unsuspecting buyers.The suit says she bought a painting purportedly by Jackson Pollock...

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All ‘hail’ the Oscar winners

And the Oscar goes to “Lincoln” . . . at least according to city taxi riders.The historical drama won Best Picture in a monthlong survey of New York City taxi riders, officials said yesterday.“Lincoln” — heavily favored for Sunday night’s Oscars — scored 25 percent of the votes for Best Picture.The other winners were:* Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln,”...

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Man struck, killed by NYPD cruiser in Queens accident

Seth GottfriedAn unidentified victim was struck and killed by a police trooper in Queens this morning.A man was struck and killed by an NYPD cruiser in an early-morning Queens crash, police said.The accident happened at about 12:45 a.m., at the intersection of 10th Street and 40th Avenue.The two officers inside the cruiser were responding to a 911 call...

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Witness heard 'non-stop shouting' from Pistorius home before fatal shooting

REUTERSOscar Pistorius stands in the dock during a break in court proceedings at the Pretoria Magistrates court in South Africa today.PRETORIA, South Africa — A witness heard "non-stop shouting" coming from the home of Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius shortly before his girlfriend was shot dead, the lead detective in the murder investigation said on...

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Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend; prosecutor says he planned to use 'intruder' story all along

Getty ImagesOscar Pistorius's sister Aimee Pistorius arrives for her brother's bail hearing at the Pretoria Magistrate Court, South Africa. PRETORIA, South Africa — Olympian Oscar Pistorius fired into the door of a small bathroom where his girlfriend was cowering after a shouting match on Valentine's Day, hitting her three times, a South African prosecutor...

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Alec fast & slur-ious

Baldwin had first been approached by a Post reporter while walking his dogs outside his East 10th Street pad at around 10:50 a.m. He was asked for comment on a lawsuit against his wife, Hilaria, involving her work as a yoga instructor.The “30 Rock’’ star grabbed the reporter, Tara Palmeri, by her arm and told her, “I want you to choke to death,” Palmeri...

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Girlfriend’s eerie last message

Just two days after her shocking murder, stunning model Reeva Steenkamp delivered a haunting prerecorded message about leaving a positive message in life that was aired during yesterday’s premiere of her reality show.“I think the way that you go out, not just your journey in life, but the way that you go out to make your exit is so important,” the 29-year-old...

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Gloves come off in Dem mayoral war

The mayoral race is turning vicious between Democrats Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn.In his harshest statement yet, Thompson trashed Quinn — the City Council speaker — for presiding over the council during a budgetary scandal, as well as her flip-flop on term limits.“There has been a pattern of questions surrounding Christine Quinn’s entire tenure as...

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Olympian Oscar Pistorius weeps during court appearance over girlfriend's death

APOscar Pistorius weeps in court in Pretoria, South Africa Friday.PRETORIA, South Africa — Prosecutors say they will pursue a premeditated murder charge against Oscar Pistorius as the Paralympic superstar openly wept in court Friday after being charged with shooting his girlfriend to death.Pistorius was formally charged at Pretoria Magistrate's Court with...

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Track star Oscar Pistorius charged with murder in model girlfriend's shooting death

REUTERSSouth Africa's Oscar Pistorius was one of the most inspirational athletes in the 2012 London Olympics.South African track star Oscar Pistorius — who became an Olympic legend by becoming the first person to race on prosthetic legs — was arrested on murder charges in the shooting death of his girlfriend, stunning model Reeva Steenkamp, police said."FHM"...

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Police find charred body in burned cabin where rogue cop Christopher Dorner was holed up; police think it's him

The manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a killing spree converged Tuesday on a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy and then never emerged as the home went up in flames.A single gunshot was heard from within. San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman...

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North Korea conducts third controversial nuke test, using smallest A-bomb yet

REUTERSA monitor at the Japan Meteorological Agency's earthquake and tsunami observations division shows ground motion data from the nuclear test in North Korea.PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea conducted a nuclear test at an underground site in the remote northeast Tuesday, taking an important step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to...

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JoePa is innocent: kin probe

The family of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno released the findings of their own investigation into the Jerry Sandusky child-molestation scandal yesterday — and it exonerated Paterno while blasting an earlier report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh as “fundamentally flawed.”More than six months after Freeh’s July 2012 report accused Paterno...

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Police: 4 wounded in shooting on Bourbon Street in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — Four people were shot on the French Quarter's iconic Bourbon Street, sending people running as revelers partied Saturday night amid the countdown to Mardi Gras, police and bystanders said. But the party was back in full force hours later as crowds returned afterward.Two males and two females were wounded just before 9:30 p.m. time, New Orleans...

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