Budgets Shrink, and Holiday Airfares Follow Suit
The travel industry is bracing for a painful holiday season as people scale back their discretionary spending. But that is good news for anyone who has yet to book a winter getaway, with hotels, airlines and cruise operators introducing last-minute deals to entice vacationers.
Thanksgiving Travel Weather
Below are the Wednesday forecasts for your holiday destinations:
Hezbollah Looks at Children And Sees New Adherents
On a Bekaa Valley playing field gilded by late-afternoon sun, hundreds of young men wearing Boy Scout-style uniforms and kerchiefs stand rigidly at attention as a military band plays, its marchers bearing aloft the distinctive yellow banner of Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement.
Federal Judge Frees Five Guantanamo Detainees
After the first hearing on the government’s evidence for holding inmates at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, a federal judge issued the Bush administration a sharp setback on Thursday, ruling that five Algerian men were held unlawfully for nearly seven years and ordering their release.
Investor Fears Spark Another Rout for Markets
As a new bout of fear gripped the financial markets on Thursday, stocks fell sharply again, culminating a monthslong plunge that has wiped out the gains of the last decade.
Shorts (right)
For months, the nation’s largest banks have struggled to regain investors’ trust. In the center of the vortex is Citigroup, whose precipitous stock-market selloff accelerated Thursday, sending shock waves through the financial world.
Key Data Held Back in Inquiry, According to C.I.A. Investigation
An internal investigation by the Central Intelligence Agency has found that the agency withheld crucial information from federal investigators who spent years trying to determine whether CIA officers committed crimes related to the accidental downing of a missionary plane in Peru in 2001.
Shorts (left)
Age and seniority gave way in Congress on Thursday, a transformational shift for an institution where tremendous power has traditionally been built on sheer longevity, accumulated and savored with the passage of years.
Chilly Weekend to Remain Snow-Free
Although the winter solstice is not until December 21st, the Boston area has been experiencing some rather wintry temperatures as of late. Though temperatures can get much lower in New England winters, the recent spell of near-freezing temperatures has been somewhat alarming in contrast to the mild, 60-degree weather we enjoyed earlier this month. While average highs for this time of year range around 50°F, the recent cold temperatures appear poised to stay in place over the weekend.
Detroit’s Plea for Financial Aid Fails in Congress
Democratic congressional leaders on Thursday said that the executives of America’s foundering automakers had failed miserably in persuading Congress or the public that $25 billion in aid from the government would be well spent, and they gave industry leaders 12 days to come back with plans showing otherwise.
Ex-President Poses Hurdles for His Wife
Over the weekend, former President Bill Clinton enthusiastically endorsed the prospect that his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, might join the Obama administration as secretary of state. “If he decided to ask her and they did it together,” the former president said, “I think she’ll be really great as a secretary of state.”
Shorts (left)
Over the last two years, some of this city’s darkest secrets have been dragged into the light — city officials with conflicts of interest and hidden pay raises, affordable housing that was not affordable, misleading crime statistics.
Shorts (right)
A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job-discrimination laws.
Chief Fights for GM’s Future, and His
Rick Wagoner cannot afford to leave Washington this week without at least $10 billion in federal aid to keep General Motors in business.
Firefighters Get Edge on Wildfires as Wind Eases
Firefighters gained the upper hand against three blazes raging over a 130-mile stretch of Southern California on Monday, as scores of residents picked over the charred remains of their homes and state officials took a new look at how to prevent a recurrence of the destruction.
Al-Maliki Dismisses Fraud Monitors in Secret Moves
The government of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki is systematically dismissing Iraqi oversight officials, who were installed to fight corruption in Iraqi ministries by order of the American occupation administration, which had hoped to bring Western standards of accountability to the notoriously opaque and graft-ridden bureaucracy here.
Prepare for a Deep Freeze
High temperatures this week will struggle to get to 40°F, as a cold pattern dominates our weather this week. Lows will reach the mid 20s°F. While these temperatures are 10 degrees below normal, perhaps “deep freeze” is too strong a word, since in February we will look upon this month and remember how warm it was. Luckily (unluckily for snow sports enthusiasts), no snow is forecasted for this week.
World Leaders Start to Press Obama on Policies
The Russians want him to hold off installation of a missile defense shield in Poland. The Europeans want him to renounce the idea of “regime change” for Iran, while the Israelis want to be sure he does not give Iran a pass when it comes to nuclear weapons.
Shorts (left)
Wang Denggui, father of three, arrived more than a year ago in the palm-lined streets of this southern town with a single goal: toil in a factory to save for his children’s school tuition.
Shorts (right)
Candy, snacks, bakery products, pet food and other Chinese products that contain milk will be detained at the border until tests prove that they are not contaminated, the federal government announced Thursday.