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Also: Iran's culture minister hints that bans on certain books may be reconsidered; The New York Times is profiling small poetry presses; Jonathan Franzen on why making money is a double-edged sword.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in Apple and is pushing the company to replace its own stock buyback plan with a much more ambitious proposal. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Icahn said that, given the size of Apple's cash holdings, its stock buyback should be $150 billion instead of the planned $60 billion.

Digital tools make starting a small business easier than ever. There are apps and websites to incorporate, find lawyers, make payroll, manage HR and marketing. Convenience can come at a price, however, if it means entrepreneurs aren't making personal connections as they establish their businesses.

Also: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius criticizes her critics; France orders another large military operation in Mali; Thailand's Buddhist patriarch dies; and Italian police arrest a group of corrupt morticians.

An email purportedly confirms the two men were captured off the coast of the Nigerian town of Brass, but there was no immediate word of demands or a ransom.

Republicans see opportunity in using House hearings to discredit health care overhaul, while Democrats charge opponents with rooting for Obamacare's failure instead of looking for a fix

A number-crunching project that sifted through hundreds of thousands of recipes and user reviews finds something pork lovers have long known: Bacon does seem to take many dishes up a notch. But it's not the only "miracle" ingredient when it comes to boosting your food's flavor.

Blue Is the Warmest Color, a coming-of-age movie about the love affair between two young women, has been criticized as pornographic and exploitive. But critic David Edelstein says the film artfully captures the intensity of sexual discovery — and dependency. (Recommended)

In this week's tech roundup, the revelations from Edward Snowden that the U.S. spied on its global allies, the Apple iPad event and the ongoing fallout over HealthCare.gov, a system one source described as "too big to succeed."

The administration official put in charge of fixing the HealthCare.gov site says it will be running "smoothly" by the end of November.