Italy Ponders Afghan Pullout After Deadly Blast
A powerful suicide bomb that killed six Italian soldiers here on Thursday prompted Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy to declare that his nation had begun planning to “bring our young men home as soon as possible.”
A Break in the Clouds
Today’s weather will offer a reprieve from the cool, dreary weather that MIT has experienced over the past couple days. A change in wind direction means that warmer air from over land will blow in from the West, instead of cool ocean air from the East. As a result, temperatures will reach the high 70s°F, instead of hovering around the 60°F mark as they did on Wednesday and Thursday.
Killing Of Yale Student Not A ‘Random Act,’ Police Say
Annie Le was so focused on academics that, even though she was the valedictorian of her high school class and her classmates voted her “most likely to be the next Einstein,” she filled out 102 applications for scholarships.
Shorts (right)
Google, long seen as an enemy by many in the news industry, is making a bold attempt to be seen as a friend with a new service it hopes will make it easier for readers to read newspaper and magazine articles.
Shorts (left)
A new audiotape, reportedly from Osama bin Laden, says that President Barack Obama is no different from his predecessor and warns that anti-American attacks will not stop unless the United States ends the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wall Street’s Math Wizards Are Tweaking Their Formulas
In the aftermath of the great meltdown of 2008, Wall Street’s quants have been cast as the financial engineers of profit-driven innovation run amok. But the real failure, according to finance experts and economists, was in the quants’ mathematical models of risk that suggested the arcane stuff was safe.
Pakistan Army Suspected of Extrajudicial Killings in Swat
Two months after the Pakistani army wrested control of the Swat Valley from Taliban militants, a new campaign of fear has taken hold, with scores, perhaps hundreds, of bodies dumped on the streets in what human rights advocates and local residents say is the work of the military.
Typical Fall Weather
As we enter the second week of classes, we will experience variable weather typical of fall in New England. After a rainy and cool Friday and Saturday this past weekend, the last two days have been sunny and warm. This weather will continue today as we will enjoy a mostly sunny day with pleasant temperatures in the low 70s°F.
Russia Says Sanctions Against Iran Are Unlikely
Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov on Thursday all but ruled out imposing new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, brushing aside growing Western concerns that Iran had made significant progress in recent months in a bid for nuclear weapons.
Buy a GM, Like It, Or Get Your Money Back
Can a straight-talking Texan and a money-back guarantee persuade American consumers to buy a car from General Motors?
Shorts (left)
At least five schoolgirls died in a stampede that started on a crowded stairway at a large government-run school in the Indian capital, Indian news media and police officials said Thursday.
Shorts (right)
President Barack Obama’s speech on health care failed to bridge the gulf with Republicans, but Democrats said on Thursday that the president had largely succeeded in unifying his own party by making a cogent, persuasive pitch to the American public, and by casting his plan to overhaul the health care system as a political and moral imperative.
Wilson’s District Mostly Backs His Outburst Against Obama
In Washington, Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina was sharply criticized by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans for shouting “You lie!” during President Barack Obama’s health care address on Wednesday. But here in his strongly Republican congressional district on Thursday, he was celebrated by many of his constituents for his outburst.
Intermission
The first ten days of September have been exceptionally nice with mostly sunny skies and temperatures near normal. September always seems to shake out this way for a good chunk of the month. It’s our short intermission from the otherwise variable weather we typically experience here in New England.
Treasury Secretary Says Bailout Programs Are Shrinking
One of President Barack Obama’s top economic strategists said on Thursday that the government was now starting to shrink many parts of the gigantic financial bailout that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September.
Shorts (left)
Three days after announcing that he was resigning as the head of Google’s Chinese operations, Kai-Fu Lee said on Monday that he had raised $115 million to create a company that would finance high-tech start-ups in China.
Shorts (right)
A devastating drought is sweeping across Kenya, killing livestock, crops and children. It is stirring up tensions in the ramshackle slums where the water taps have run dry, and spawning ethnic conflict in the hinterland as communities fight over the last remaining pieces of fertile grazing land.
Just What Season Is It Anyway?
Many people consider Labor Day as the last weekend of the summer, signaling the end of hot weather and the beginning of the school year. Climatologists define their seasons to be three months long, so that autumn starts on September 1 and ends on November 30, summer starts on June 1st and ends on August 31st, etc. The astronomical first day of autumn starts at the precise moment of the autumnal equinox, which in the Northern Hemisphere can either occur on September 22nd or 23rd. Likewise, the first day of summer starts at the summer solstice (June 20 or 21).
After U.S. Aid, Some Schools Still Face Large Cutbacks
Children are returning to classrooms across the nation during one of the most tumultuous periods in American education, in which many thousands of teachers and other school workers — no one yet knows how many — were laid off in dozens of states because of plummeting state and local revenue. Many were hired back, thanks in part to $100 billion in federal stimulus money.
Insurgents Set Off Blasts at Checkpoints in Iraqi Cities
Insurgents detonated bombs and threw grenades on Monday at or near six Iraqi police and army checkpoints, in assaults on the most visible deterrents the Iraqi government has to attacks.